Next month, the Cannonball Festival will be back to coincide with the annual Fringe Festival extravaganza in Philadelphia, and in 2024, the creative activation will feature over 120 productions.
Cannonball is known for its quirky additions to Fringe, and as they say, locals can expect rebellious circus, delicious dance, fearless theater, activist art, plus workshops, parties, and more this go-around.
“The goal of Cannonball remains the same — to cultivate a space of warmth, sharing, and belonging by and for artists who have often, by their own admission, been overlooked by many of the city’s other presenting organizations,” says Mentoring Producer Colby Calhoun in a statement.
As a release notes, through partnerships and community investment, the festival has awarded over $41,000 in direct financial support to 14 award-winning productions chosen by panels of peer artists. Panel picks include the winners of the BIPOC New Work Track, including the winner of inaugural Wilma Residency, the Al-Bustan Award for SWANA Artists, the CSAW Award for New Circus Work by an Artist of Color, the Performance for Young Audiences Cohort Track, and the Philadelphia Theatre Company Text and Dramaturgy Cohort.
There are a few standouts to keep in mind for the 2024 Cannonball Festival as well. The first ever Black Circus Week will feature shows, jams, panels, circus workshops and new collaborations with CSAW, Rebel Arts Movement, and Tauraro Arts Residency. This particular activation will take place Sept. 6 through the 11.
There’s also the Presenters Platform 2024 happening Sept. 19 through 22. Through Presenters, the movers and makers of Philly’s vibrant and innovative performance sector, as well as guests from around the country and the world, can “dream about the future of live performance and celebrate the experiments that are well underway.”
Camp Cannonball is another facet of the festival with workshops, conversations, cabarets, experiments and more taking place at Pig Iron Studios every Sunday starting Sept. 8 (the full schedule will be posted online soon.)
Philadelphians can also check out Cannonball Kids and Cannonball After Dark. The former will feature performances for young audiences and families throughout the month of September spanning interactive shows, puppetry, music, dance, and food. The latter is for those 18+, and will feature shows “too naughty for daylight” taking place at the CannonBar.
There’s also a new way to figure out what exactly to see at CB this year with the “Trails” feature on their fresh web app. By heading to the site, people can take a quiz to see where your interests may lie, sort shows by date, category, genre and trail, and even create your own schedule.
Cannonball offers accessible sliding-scale ticketing to every production, and builds programs in collaboration with artists and community members that expand performance works outside of the theater through Cannonball Mess Hall events and Cannonball Workshops as well, the release also notes.
The festival will take place throughout different venues in Philadelphia including the MAAS Building, Icebox Project Space, Christ Church Neighborhood House, Liberty Lands and as mentioned before, Pig Iron Studios.
“We believe that the difference between the incredible artists of the Independent Fringe and those produced at larger venues is a question of resource investment,” finishes Co-Founder and Program Manager Ben Grinberg in a statement.
“As we continually seek new resources and opportunities for our artist communities to craft and hone their work, we hope audiences will appreciate the incredible opportunity to see world-class artists in the hyper-intimate settings our venues offer.”
Tickets for FringeArts members and the general public are now available. More information can be found at the hub’s website cannonballfestival.org. Tickets and more information about the Philadelphia Fringe Festival can be found at phillyfringe.org
