PODCAST: What the Heck is a Fringe Festival and Whose Idea is it Anyway?

Fringe. A performing-arts smörgåsbord.

At it's core, Fringe gives a spotlight to theater, dance, puppetry, music, visual arts, and spoken word.

The first "fringe" concept was started in Scotland in 1947. It has surived and grown since it's inception and is now one of the biggest tourist draws in the UK and one of the biggest arts festivals on the planet, grossing over $100 million a year for the local economy. (Scroll to the bottom for photos of this year's acts -- one of which is a musical inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's Utah ski trial.)

Fringe festivals have been popping up all over the world since their inception.In fact, North America is the biggest adopter of the concept and has the most fringe festivals on the planet.

This will be the first year the Cowboy State hosts an official Fringe Festival, something that is long overdue according to the event coordinator Sarah Saulsbury.

"The future of performance is being forged in places like this," notes PH.D. William Conte, the Artistic Director of the Theatre of the Poor.

"You have to think in terms of having an experience that is outside your expectations of what theatre and performance ought to be. The experimentation that goes on at a fringe festival makes it like a laboratory, a cauldron of activity and creativity, and the excitement is in seeing the new and the different and the possibilities for what the theatre can be."

You learn a lot about a city's arts scene from its fringe., and Casper certainly has plenty to offer as the home to many artists, musicians, and performers.

The Wyoming Fringe Festival will featuring over 20 performances including theatre, rock n' roll, magic & mentalism, burlesque, and more.

It is taking place August 10th through the 11th. Concessions will be available all weekend including beer and malt beverages for those 21+. See a full schedule and tickets here.

In the most recent episode of Report to Wyoming, a K2 Radio news podcast, I sit down with both William Conte and Aubrey Mailloux, both of whom will be participants in the upcoming festival, to discuss what fringe is and its place in Casper.

Mailloux is a 19-year-old Casper girl who is currently attending dance school in New York. Listen below.