The Montréal Fringe: Catching Festival Fever with Amy Blackmore and Kenny Streule
By Will Nye
When June comes around, you may find yourself catching a mysterious festival fever: la “piqûre fringe”, the Fringe Buzz. With preparations well-underway for the 34th edition of the St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe, I met up with Executive and Artistic Director of MainLine Theatre and St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, Amy Blackmore, and Artistic Producer Kenny Streule for a chat.
I first met Amy at a workshop about a month after I had moved to Montréal. As well as some killer-advice on how to produce a show, it was there that I first learned about the magic of the Fringe. After-all, Amy is the Fringe. She began volunteering at the age of 17 and had her first year as festival director in 2011. Working alongside Kenny for 10 years now, they are a fun, formidable team.
Amy Blackmore and Kenny Streule at Fringe For All 2023. Photo credit to Cindy Lopez.
The festival may run from May 27th to June 16th, but the prep is all year round. As Amy tells me, “the Fringe is always marinating in my mind”. After-all, with 20-plus venues hosting 800 performances of circus, comedy, theater and more, there is some serious organization to do.
Last year’s Fringe For All 2023 Hosts, Ravyn R. Bekh, Kenny Streule, and Cat Preston. Photo credit to Cindy Lopez.
“To me, the Fringe means new-creation, experimentation, exploration, and the idea of everyone being invited”
Amy first felt the Fringe magic as a teenager. Roaming the plateau and stumbling across the festival in its infancy, she was welcomed into the community with open arms. The Buzz took a hold, and it hasn’t let go since. It is this community, its people power, that keeps the festival alive. Whether it’s first-timers or regulars, everyone is invited to the party. It’s not only about the amazing art on show, but those people making that art possible, whether it be the audience, the backstage crew, or the volunteer ushers - everyone.
FringeMTL 2023 Team at the Frankie Awards.
“Those wacky ideas you wrote down on your phone in a bar at 3am, you realize that they can happen here.”
Whether it is shadow puppetry, a musical about an agoraphobic clown, or a dance interpretation of The Dark Side of the Moon, there is truly something for everyone. You will see shows that you didn’t know you would love and shows that you didn’t think were even humanly possible. With the majority of shows being world-premiers, it is the boundary-pushing, creative freedom that makes the Montréal Fringe so unique.
Kenny Streule, Ericka Alneus, Srija Besses, Tim Rodrigues, Ravyn R Bekh at Fringe For All 2023. Photo credit to Louis Longpré.
“The festival is a trampoline for people’s art.”
Festivals like this should not be taken for granted. The cancellation of Just for Laughs this year is a reminder of just how fragile our ecosystems are. Such is the case that in Amy’s diary sit plans for the following day alongside plans for 2026. It is a privilege to have bold, inspiring people like this sustaining our culture for years to come. For now, the Fringe shows no sign of slowing down, and Amy is determined that bigger can be better for the festival: “if the rest of the world was fringing, I think it would solve a lot of our problems”.
“The Fringe is a summer camp for adults”, Kenny tells me. A carnival, a break from normal life where anything seems possible. This year, due to some intense scheduling work, tickets went on sale early-April. So get those shows in your calendar, get your merch on, and get ready for the event of the year!