Dear friends,
The Fringe Milano Off Festival 2026 has officially begun: wonderful shows across the whole city, and a Village OFF at spazioBACCA, hosting all the meetings between artists and theatre companies.
On this occasion, we would like to extend a very special thank you to Alessia Del Corona, Councillor for Culture, Territorial Marketing and Commerce of Municipio 1, for thinking of spazioBACCA as the heart of the Fringe Festival: this allowed us to connect with this wonderful cultural organisation led by Francesca Vitale and Renato Lombardo, and to introduce it to all those who follow us in the neighbourhood and beyond.
The concept of the Fringe Festival was born in Edinburgh in 1947, when eight theatre companies, excluded from the official programme of the first International Festival, decided to perform anyway, occupying alternative and unconventional spaces on the fringes of the main event and giving rise to a spontaneous movement.
This independent, multidisciplinary spirit revolutionised the world of performing arts and, over the years, has been taken up in many other cities, including Milan, where the festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this year: the idea of establishing a fringe festival arose from an agreement reached in 2015 with the then president of the “Le Off” Festival in Avignon, Greg Germain, to create a fringe in Milan modelled on the Avignon format, including all the related events, such as themed sessions and professional courses for artists.
The many theatrical shows the festival brings to the city of Milan range from comedy to contemporary drama, from storytelling theatre to visual/multimedia theatre, as well as musical theatre, contemporary circus and reinterpretations of classic texts.
In total, more than sixty shows of different artistic genres and in different languages will fill the city with emotion, values and solidarity.
The festival aims to be a moment of exchange and cross-pollination, breaking down artistic, social and cultural boundaries.
From Thursday to Sunday across the two weeks of the Fringe, each venue will host 2–3 shows a day across three indicative time slots — afternoon (5:00pm), late afternoon (7:00pm) and evening (9:00pm) — and each show will run in the same space for 4 performances, from Thursday to Sunday.
To discover the full programme, with all the shows, events and venues, we invite you to visit the official festival website.
We hope to see many of you there — it will be a wonderful experience for everyone!