First Annual Lancaster Fringe Festival

Gear up for the inaugural Lancaster Fringe Festival, founded by Dr. Caleb Corkery, a Millersville University English professor, on May 21-24, 2026, in downtown Lancaster.

The Lancaster Fringe Festival is a new nonprofit with a mission to bring together a community of creators inspired to share their stories through theater, music and art that highlights human connection. Fringe festivals bring performing artists into nontraditional venues and spaces.

To showcase what performances could look like during the May festival, a fringe variety show will be held at Southern Market from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Nov. 15, at Southern Market. Corkery and his team will present an immersive experience with drums, clowns, spoken word, dramatic monologues and more. Admission is $10, the same price as admission for the festival in May. Once inside, the audience can practice using a pay-what-you-decide ticketing model and support acts they enjoy. The variety show also gives participants a chance to donate to a new community arts organization that tells stories through drama, music, art, dance, poetry and exploratory genres.

The executive board for the Fringe has a vision to animate downtown Lancaster with indoor and outdoor performances across a variety of genres and art forms. Participants can expect to see productions in spaces that further an artistic vision and engage the community in the experience. The informal staging allows for interactions between artists and spectators, developing connections. In the months leading up to the festival, the organization will provide creative labs for artists to develop their work as they prepare and rehearse.

Corkery said his passion for theater and the arts inspired him to initiate this event.

"I've always been inspired by theater: the collaboration in the moment, the unique experience you're having with others," said Corkery. "Fringe elevates that appeal by putting that creative experience in the community. After seeing some fringe shows, I thought it would be fun to do it here. I think our community is ready to support such a grassroots effort."

Corkery has spent more than a year organizing the event and has partnered with the Lancaster-based community theater organization Creative Works of Lancaster. He and his original collaborator Frith Rooney '17, '19, a Millersville alum, began by building a network across the local arts community. Their executive board now includes alum Michael Falcone '18, '21, as well as Starleisha Gingrich and Andrew Dixon.

"Lancaster has many talented artists who benefit from connecting," said Corkery. "They inspire each other's work and generate unexpected collaborations. For those of us organizing Fringe, this is what makes the arts so valuable: generating new expressions that pull people together into experiences that are fun and beautiful and meaningful."

Corkery hopes that the Lancaster Fringe Festival becomes an annual event that spreads to neighborhoods throughout Lancaster City, where they can celebrate the arts and foster genuine human connection.

Tickets are available through CashApp: $LancasterFringeFest and Venmo: @LancasterFringeFest.

Learn more about the Lancaster Fringe Fest.