2026 Winter Mini Fringe Festival
2026 Winter Mini Fringe Festival
January 31 @ 3:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Join the Elgin community for the 7th annual Winter Mini Fringe, a cozy and creative Saturday with the Elgin Fringe Festival! Celebrate the spirit of the fringe with an intimate showcase of diverse performances by local and visiting artists. Whether you’re a longtime Fringe fan or new to the experience, all are welcome to enjoy this evening of artistry, community, and delicious food!
Mini-Fringe Visual Art Show
Featuring Adam Grewenig & Elgin Fringe Poster Artists – 1-3pm
Free MINI-FRINGE Potluck!
Enjoy food before, during, between, & after the shows! Bring a dish to share and enjoy a communal meal with fellow art lovers and performers. Share food and conversation before, during, between, and after the performances! Guests are welcome to bring food into each performance.
Enjoy food before, during, between, & after the shows! Bring a dish to share and enjoy a communal meal with fellow art lovers and performers. Share food and conversation before, during, between, and after the performances! Guests are welcome to bring food into each performance.
Featuring performances from:
Ursa Miles – 3:00pm
Ozark Phantasmagoria
The Ozarks in the 1930s is a strange and mystical place. As new dams are built and towns are plunged underwater, cryptids that once hid in the woods and the rivers are forced into contact with humans. When Sarah Jane’s brother is taken, it is the hills that will be her revenge.
Ursa Miles – 3:00pm
Ozark Phantasmagoria
The Ozarks in the 1930s is a strange and mystical place. As new dams are built and towns are plunged underwater, cryptids that once hid in the woods and the rivers are forced into contact with humans. When Sarah Jane’s brother is taken, it is the hills that will be her revenge.
The Aisle Play – 5:30pm
What would you do at the end of the world? This dark comedy follows a group of survivors as they raid a grocery store and try to hold onto the fonder moments of their past, as the future looks more and more bleak.
RATED PG-13. Includes: abrupt loud noises, death, drugs/alcohol, guns, and adult language.
What would you do at the end of the world? This dark comedy follows a group of survivors as they raid a grocery store and try to hold onto the fonder moments of their past, as the future looks more and more bleak.
RATED PG-13. Includes: abrupt loud noises, death, drugs/alcohol, guns, and adult language.
Bad Stories for Bad Children – 7pm
Are you a bad child? Experience a series of original short stories written by Mike Eserkaln, with shadow puppets by Maggie Dernehl. Four darkly comedic tales of what happens when bad children face the consequences of their bad behavior. A Cardboard Theatre production. Premiered at the Green Bay Fringe Festival 2025.
Closed Captions >> Spanglish Standup Comedy Show – 8:30pm
A high-energy comedy showcase featuring four Chicagoland comedians where English leads, Spanish sneaks in, and everyone gets the joke. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, the punchlines land—because funny is a universal language.
RATED R. Includes: Adult language, sexual content, mature themes, and mentions of guns, drugs, and alcohol.
RATED R. Includes: Adult language, sexual content, mature themes, and mentions of guns, drugs, and alcohol.
Single Performances $13 each/Festival Pass $40 for four shows – tickets on sale now.
Produced by Side Street Studio Arts with support from the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission.
