Culture will bloom in some unlikely places this spring with a new initiative by the City of Sydney making it easier for artists to transform spaces into temporary performance venues.
The City has given $24,800 to the Sydney Fringe to support five temporary ‘pop-up’ theatres in vacant shopfronts around Newtown and Erskineville during the festival.
On top of financial support, the City will use the pilot to develop an easier approvals process for temporary performance venues. Similar to the model used at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the process will allow vacant shopfronts, existing cafes and retail businesses to be temporarily transformed
into theatres.
“This project will reduce red tape and make it cheaper for people applying to run small temporary venues, without compromising public health and building standards,” said Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
“Fringe theatre enhances the city’s vibrant performance and live music scene, and streamlining the approvals process for temporary fringe venues will increase creative opportunities for Sydneysiders.
“Pop-up theatres will create a new, non-alcohol focused evening economy in our city villages – it’s good for local businesses, resident and visiting culture lovers and the artists themselves.”
The Sydney Fringe grant will help fund development applications for the five proposed unlicensed temporary venues. It will help pay for expert consultants in building compliance and cover related planning costs like acoustic reports.
The cost of applying to run a pop-up performance venue in Sydney is estimated between $800 and $2,000.
A Temporary Theatre Licence for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe costs around $289.
Most of the difference in costs arises from a requirement for applicants to submit a full development application to the City to change the building’s use.
Sydney Fringe Festival Director, Kerri Glasscock said the pilot project will offer a wider choice of cultural experiences to audiences and engage with the local community.
“This initiative with the City of Sydney will make it easier for artists and Fringe producers to showcase new work in Sydney and shape a new vision for where performance can be presented.
“It will help make the sixth year of the Sydney Fringe our most exciting and vibrant festival yet.”
The pop-up theatre pilot program is an action from the City’s Creative City Cultural Policy and Action Plan, which identified a substantial need for new performance space and temporary venues in central Sydney.
