12 Feb 2027 – 28 Feb 2027
Glendale International Fringe Festival
The Glendale International Fringe Festival (GIFF) is a curated performance festival shaped around a simple idea:
When accessibility leads, art transforms.
Artist and company applications for GIFF 2027 are now closed.
Thank you to the artists and companies who submitted work for consideration. GIFF 2027 is now in the confirmation and preparation phase as we move toward a free, accessible, international festival in February.
Venues
Performances occur across:
- Glendale Main Library Auditorium – MAP – Coming Soon
- Velma Teague Performance Space – MAP – Coming Soon
- Foothills Multi-purpose Space – MAP – Coming Soon
- Heroes Performance Space – MAP – Coming Soon
- GIFF’s digital broadcast studios, supporting livestream and VOD – Coming Soon
- All venues support ASL, captions, audio description, and hybrid performance workflows.
Where We Fit In
GIFF is distinctive because it takes place in public libraries, using civic infrastructure to make performance free, multilingual, local, and nationally visible. We integrate Artistic ASL, co-designed audio description, multilingual captioning, and transportation equity not simply as logistics, but as part of the art.
GIFF brings performances to Glendale’s four universally accessible libraries. The event is a 16-day celebration of free and universally accessible performance.
Arizona Theatre Matters works closely with Deaf, Blind, and other artists with access needs. Because accessibility is an artistic foundation—not an afterthought—GIFF is curated to ensure we can fully support the creative and access requirements of every company while maintaining the radical hospitality that defines the festival.
Festival Timeline
Festival Dates: February 12–28, 2027
Artist Orientation — Virtual: November 2026, date TBD
Tech Schedules Released: December 2026
Marketing Materials Due from Participating Artists: January 5, 2027
Load-In & Technical Rehearsals: Week of February 5, 2027
Festival Opening Event: February 12, 2027
Closing Celebration & Awards: February 28, 2027
Post-Festival Debrief & Surveys: March 2027
Festival Model
GIFF is a curated, international Fringe festival.
Applications for GIFF 2027 are now closed. Participating artists and companies are being selected through a curated process designed to ensure that each production can be fully supported within GIFF’s access-forward performance model.
GIFF centers artistic excellence, radical hospitality, and access as a creative practice. Each participating production is considered not only for its artistic strength, but also for how it can be supported through ASL, captioning, audio description, hybrid presentation, and audience access needs.
Support
In addition to generous individual contributions, GIFF is made possible by grants from
the National Endowment for the Arts,
the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and
the City of Glendale, Arizona.
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