Fringe Fest 2023

August 18, 20235:00 pm - 8:00 pm

To kick off a weekend of family fun downtown Biddeford, Engine in partnership with Heart of Biddeford is pleased to host Fringe Fest 2023! This arts festival featuring unfettered expression is free and open to the public from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Friday, August 18.

Like fringe art festivals around the world, our Fringe Fest features experimental performances and exhibitions, elevating those on the edges of our community. We invite folks of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to our creative community to gather, share, make, and create.

Interested in Being Part of Fringe Fest?

Business Sign Ups

Artist Sign Ups

Upper Main Street Events

Elements: Books Coffee Beer
4:30 – 6:30 Face Painting
5:00 – 7:30 Interactive Art Activity
6:30 – 8:00 Live Music

McArthur Library
4:00 – 7:30 Bookmark Craft
6:30 – 7:15 Performance by Cindylou Hoops

Briar and Bone
4:00 – 8:00 Professor Krumpp’s Travelling Cabinet of Curiosities
4:00 – 8:00 Meet and Greet with Yakisugi Artist Cinnamon Brulee and Refreshments

Vickie’s Veggie
4:00 – 8:00 Veggie Burger Special
4:30 – 6:30 Live Music

City Theater
7:30 Comedian Juston McKinney (tickets required)

BANDALOOP in Biddeford

Swing by the Levee to catch BANDALOOP performing at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. An innovator in vertical performance, BANDALOOP’s perspective-bending dance seamlessly weaves dynamic physicality, intricate choreography, and climbing technology to turn the dance floor on its side.

Lower Main Street Events

*As of 1:00 p.m. Friday, August 18, the Lower Main Street events are moving indoors to 32 Main Street*
Thank you to the Pepperell Mill Campus for generously providing an amazing indoor space. To find us, use the entrance to the left of Portland Pie and take the stairs or elevator to the second floor (the same space where Confetti and the Biddeford Ball were held).

Engine Gallery
4:00 – 5:30 Artefact Making
5:30 – 8:00 Opening Reception for Tiger Birth: Origins of Sea Free

Common Roots Studio
5:00 – 9:00 Mobile Art Bus

Wooven
6:00 Fashion Show

Pepperell Mill Campus (32 Main Street)
6:30 – 9:00 GEM CITY takes the stage, featuring performers Genius Black, TinyFoot, Suzie Assam, KevCoast, Iyendae, and Drell

Pepperell Mill Campus (32 Main Street)
4:30 + 6:30 by Hannah Haines & the Biddeford Movement Map
fire dancers
performance by Katie Clark
artists and makers selling their goods
The PopUpCycler
6:00 Pie Luck (it’s like a pot luck, but just pies)

Late Night Fringe

Sacred Profane
9:00 the party continues!

What people are saying about Engine...

Partnering with UNE, Engine has offered professional level gallery and classroom experiences for undergraduate and local students enrolled in arts classes as well as a venue to see art by both regionally and nationally recognized artists.

Stephen Burt

University of New England

Engine is and has been a focal point of downtown Biddeford for many years for so many artists and creative spirits. It is a go-to for me: a retreat, a destination, a source for connection and ideas and community.

Laura Dunn

Artist

Engine is a wonderful place to work surrounded by wonderful people who have infused so much love and light into the downtown of Biddeford. I cannot imagine a bright future in the town without this wonderful organization.

Savanna Pettengill

Artist & Arts Teacher

Engine fuels the creativity of our city, making it the hub for youth and adults alike to feed their spirits, expand their skills, and create a better future for all of us.

Stephanie Edwards

Community Action Committee