FRIGID New York was founded by Horse Trade and EXIT Theatre in 2007.

Having founded The San Francisco Fringe Festival - the 2nd oldest fringe in the United States - nearly 17 years ago, EXIT introduced Horse Trade to the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) Model in mid-2006.

Drawn to CAFF’S main principle, “…to provide all artists, emerging and established, with the opportunity to produce their play no matter the content, form or style and to make the event as affordable and accessible as possible for the members of the community,” Horse Trade was proud to sign on to the tradition, and thaw out New York’s ideas of what a theatre festival can be. FRIGID is also a proud member of USAFF (US association of Fringe Festivals)

In true support of theatre on the fringe of the mainstream, the artists take home 100% of their box office, and the festival producers do not receive royalties from future performances. The festival’s producers are proud to support self-producing artists’ growth and future success.

The debut of FRIGID New York was a hit! With acclaim from American Theatre Magazine, Backstage, Playbill, Broadwayworld.com, The Village Voice, and United Stages, 29 theater companies featuring almost 250 theater artists from all over the world flooded downtown Manhattan for two weeks to peddle their artistic wares for over 2,555 ecstatic audience members! The fest received full coverage and acclaim from nytheatre.com, and was subsequently named one of their PEOPLE OF THE YEAR, 2007! The second year of FRIGID sidestepped the much feared sophomore slump and saw many returning artists, a 20% rise in attendance, a tripling of sold out performances and more great material for NYC audiences to enjoy. Another 20% icrease in attendence in the third year of the festival presented us with some exciting crowd control issues a wonderful problem to have so early in our festivals life.

Riding the fringe of winter once more, FRIGID New York returns February 23 , 2011 again boasting over 150 performances and kicking off the annual North American Fringe Circuit. 2011’s fest will also see more late night events, and parties (of course!).

Horse Trade, EXIT Theatre, and all of the hard working staff, artists, and volunteers of FRIGID New York look forward to seeing you and having you join us in this celebration of independent theater. New York City is an indisputable hotbed of groundbreaking talent. We’re proud to once again provide this opportunity for ingenuity to thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination.

3 Theaters, 12 Days, 30 independent theater companies and over 150 performances...see you at FRIGID New York