ESL Rochester Fringe Festival at MAG

Experience the excitement of Fringe at MAG! Every ticket includes same-day museum admission.

Schedule of Events

Friday, September 18

3:00–9:00 pm (performance at 7:00 pm) — From the Depths
3:30–4:30 pm — Soup du Journalism: 25 Years of Deadline Drama
3:30–4:30 pm — All These Pretty Things

Saturday, September 19

11:00 am–12:00 pm — Cobbs Hill Consort
12:00–1:00 pm — The Belly Dancer Bazaar
1:00–2:00 pm — All These Pretty Things
1:45–2:45 pm — Soup du Journalism: 25 Years of Deadline Drama
2:00–2:45 pm — I Don’t Get It
3:00–9:00 pm (performance at 7:00 pm) — From the Depths
3:30–4:30 pm — Funkyard Brass
4:00–5:00 pm — Dealbreaker

Sunday, September 20

11:00 am–12:00 pm — Cobbs Hill Consort
12:45–1:30 pm — I Don’t Get It
1:15–2:15 pm — The Belly Dancer Bazaar
1:30–2:30 pm — All These Pretty Things
3:00–9:00 pm (performance at 7:00 pm) — From the Depths
3:30–4:30 pm — Dealbreaker
4:00–5:00 pm — Glitch Video Game Band

About the Performances

All These Pretty Things

When a 23-year marriage implodes, one woman turns shocking betrayal into a razor-sharp musical confession, as hilarious as it is fearless. Adelaide Fringe Award Winner 2026, performed 80 + times worldwide — with two seasons at Edinburgh Fringe — Yarad’s ability to “bridge dreams into reality” is one of her superpowers. The show will leave audiences floored.

Price: $25
Age range: 21+
Location: Lynne Lovejoy Parlor

The Belly Dancer Bazaar

Step into The Grand Bazaar, a belly dance spectacle that whisks you into a bustling marketplace of movement, music, and global tradition. Prepare to be dazzled by swirling veils, flashing swords, fluttering fans, and the bright chime of finger cymbals—all set against a backdrop of costumes shimmering with sequins, glitter, and gold. Get ready for a fantastical journey that brings the beauty, history, and heart of belly dance from around the world straight to you.

Price: $20
Age range: 5+
Location: M&T Bank Ballroom

Cobbs Hill Consort

The Cobbs Hill Consort is a unique Rochester acoustic ensemble featuring the Native American flute and world flutes, supported by the living sounds of guitar, harp, drums, and percussion. The music is soothing, emotive, and transporting, engaging you in a journey of the heart. Performers include Jefferson Svengsouk (Native American flute) and Sandy Gianniny (harp), both of whom are members of UR Medicine’s Palliative Care team. The group has performed at multiple venues at the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival over the years, including 2020’s pandemic virtual festival, and returns to share the gift of their healing energies and creative collaboration.

Price: $10
Age range: all ages
Location: Bausch & Lomb Parlor

Dealbreaker

Lauren always believed adulthood would be filled with flirty flings and, eventually, true love. But one night during junior year (at the University of Rochester!), she gets… herpes! Dealbreaker is an autobiographical solo show about dating with herpes, stigma, and the path to healing. Part storytelling and part comedy, this show is for anyone who’s ever feared they might die alone because of herpes or anything else.

Price: $25
Age range: 18+
Location: Lynne Lovejoy Parlor

From the Depths

SUNY Geneseo and its collaborators are bringing their art-meets-science events focused around artist Billie Lynn’s kinetic sculpture, a 65-foot inflatable replica of a sperm whale, created to spark environmental conversations and help us consider the role of art in ecological awareness. Planned events include a cello performance from inside the whale; choral performances around the whale; and curated opportunities for attendees to enter the whale. Combining live performance and curated exhibition, this event will allow attendees to learn about whale acoustics and leave both transformed by a range of art disciplines and enriched by scientific knowledge.

Price: Free—no tickets required!
Age range: all ages
Location: Centennial Sculpture Park

Funkyard Brass

Funkyard Brass Band is a six-person brass band, bringing the sounds of New Orleans funk to the streets of Rochester. They get the party going with traditional street blues or upbeat covers!

Price: $15
Age range: all ages
Location: M&T Bank Ballroom

Glitch Video Game Band

Glitch Video Game Band is a local three-piece band (bass, drums, and keyboards) that plays video game melodies in a unique, jam session.

Price: $10
Age range: all ages
Location: Bausch & Lomb Parlor

I Don’t Get It

Everyone in her life is surprised when Chloe comes out as trans, especially her former teammates. Her identity as a football-playing bouncer puts many of her friendships in a precarious position as she navigates an ocean of her own emotions and the reactions of others. This performance will bring you inside the gayest environment Chloe has ever experienced, her men’s college locker room, and follows her evolving vision of herself through the lens of her friendship with a former teammate/roommate, Ike.

Price: $20
Age range: 16+
Location: Bausch & Lomb Parlor

Soup du Journalism: 25 Years of Deadline Drama

It’s been twenty-five years since I set a goal of becoming a glossy magazine editor. Who would have thought that I’d end up writing listicles for chatbots to scrape? From a student chasing down interviews in Greenwich Village, I became the Diet and Fitness beat reporter for iVillage (phone call with Kim Cattrall, check!) and a business-beat writer fending off a horny dairy king before veering into social media marketing and public relations—in one case, pubic relations. Bringing my reporter sensibility to vaginal rejuvenation, health care breakthroughs, and cryptocurrency explainers (an oxymoron), I look back on a quarter-century of getting people talking, or at least texting me back, to write an exclusive that’s hot off the press. Whatever that means.

Price: $25
Age range: 13+
Location: M&T Bank Ballroom