Fresno’s special annual fringe festival—called the Rogue Festival—kicks off on Feb. 27 and continues through March 6, with six days of performances, including, as its website, fresnoroguefestival.org, states, “theater, music, dance, comedy, magic, poetry, performance art, fun and complete fringe performance madness.”
The now famous fringe festival was founded at the beginning of the century and, through grit and glory, is coming upon its 25th anniversary—one of the oldest and most respected fringe festivals in North America—all in Fresno.
The festival takes place in the Tower District, known for its artsy culture, and consists of two consecutive weekends of live performance shows of independent artists with 30 different performing acts (15 out-of-town and 15 local) at five venues—the truth is, you never really know who or what to expect at Rogue—from national and international touring performers to the local guy who just loves to perform in front of a live audience.
This year, about 60 performers applied for the coveted spots. There are about 25 people on the waiting list, and two additional “off-Rogue” shows are also scheduled during the festival.
According to its festival press release, Rogue is an “uncurated, unjuried, uncensored festival.” Performers are selected through a livestreamed random lottery and, once selected, there are no restrictions on what performers can say or do at their own show.
The Rogue Festival stands firm in its support of unrestricted artistic expression and celebrates the power of art freedom.
Yolanda Serrato has returned for her second year as volunteer executive director of the festival. A true “lover of arts,” she has been volunteering with Rogue since 2011. She has volunteered for practically every role at Rogue and loves it.
Serrato has a supportive volunteer team who jokingly call her “glorious leader” and the “all decision maker.”
Volunteers at Rogue are important, and they keep busy during the festival. They are the true lifeline of Rogue.
Serrato calls her volunteer crew her “secret ingredient,” a team who “works their butts off to do the thousand and one background tasks that make Rogue possible.”
She says: “We always need more volunteers. It’s nice to have more people to utilize and help cover shows.” Interested volunteers should contact Rogue as soon as possible.
Serrato knows their grassroots festival is unique. “The Rogue shows a different side of Fresno. We are bringing arts to Fresno, and we want to continue to bring the arts. Our festival is very friendly—a friendlier festival—and people seem happier to attend.”
Rogue provides artists with a space to perform and audiences get to decide what it all means. “The goal is to get people to learn more about different types of performing arts, how to express themselves,” Serrato says.
After all these years, Serrato still loves the fact that you could literally see anything at the Rogue Festival. She’s seen everything at Rogue, from the sweetest show ever to the “very weirdest, craziest-but-loved-it kind of show” on the planet.
Her most memorable performance was a 79-year-old burlesque dancer. There’s truly something for everyone.
But not every show is for everyone. Audience members can leave any show at any time if they don’t like it. Serrato wants to remind ticket purchasers, though, that there are no refunds. All ticket sales go directly to the performers.
This year, the Rogue Festival is promoting the performers on its social media outlets to target a broader audience and get youth more involved. Rogue’s social media handle for Facebook and Instagram is “rogue.fresno.’”
The teaser show is set for Feb. 26 at Summer Fox Brewery and will include a silent auction. Rogue’s annual revealing of its muse will happen at Goldstein’s Mortuary and Delicatessen bar the night of Feb. 12.
Just as in previous years, Rogue attendees need to purchase a single Rogue wristband (which is good for the entirety of the festival) in order to have access to purchase tickets to individual shows. This can be done at any Rogue venue before and during showtimes.
“We usually say we’re small, we’re scrappy, we’re unconventional,” Serrato beams. “We’ve lasted for 25 years because every year is new and unique—the Rogue can’t be stopped.”
