22nd - 27th May 2023

Artist toolbox

Welcome to the Artist Toolbox

The all-in-one information resource for performers at Prague Fringe


General Information

Who are we?

Prague Fringe is now in its 21st year and takes place in the Malá Strana (Little Quarter) district of Prague. A beautiful area below the castle running along the Vltava river. All our venues are within easy walking distance of each other.

The Festival Assistants and Fringe Technicians will be on hand at your venues during the Fringe to assist with your requirements.

Who are the Festival Assistants?

All of the Front of House team are volunteers, many of them have flown themselves to Prague to assist us with the festival because they are interested in theatre and festival management. They get free entry to all shows, but it will never be to the detriment of your ticket sales.

They are a great promotional tool for your show - tell them all about it and they'll spread the word among audiences. 

Please treat these volunteers with respect and remember they are responsible for adhering to Fringe regulations to help the whole event run smoothly.

Fringe venue names and addresses

 

Café Club Míšeňská 

Míšeňská 3

Malá Strana, Praha 1

 

Divadlo Inspirace

Malostranské naměstí 13

Malá Strana, Praha 1

 

A Studio Rubín

Malostranské náměstí 9

Malá Strana, Praha 1

 

Museum of Alchemists

Jánský vršek 8

Malá Strana, Praha 1

 

Malostranská beseda - Main Stage

Malostranské nám. 35

Malá Strana, Praha 1

 

Charles Bridge Comedy Club

Mostecká 53

Malá Strana, Praha 1

Venue info for show technicians and producers

Detailed application info available here:  Artist Application Information.

Venue packs for download in the Our Venues section. 


Print and Press

Poster/Flyer Guide

All posters should be in English (no need for Czech version of text, our audiences all speak English).

SIZE A4 or A3 is best for posters as space can be limited.

How many posters and flyers should I bring with me to Prague? 

We are a boutique festival with 6 small to mid-sized venues so we usually recommend bringing no more than 60 posters and 600 flyers with you. Of course it's up to your if you'd like to bring more, but this is what we recommend based on previous experience.

Our Print and Branding team will put up at least one poster per Fringe venue, and you may want to distribute some yourselves in cafes and bars around the Fringe area (see 'Print Materials During the Festival' for a map of suggested locations)

Printing in Prague

If you'd like to print your posters and flyers when you arrive in Prague, we recommend Copy General.

Their website is only in Czech (can be translated via Google Translate) but their staff usually speak English. You can send them your files in advance, or bring them with you via USB. 

Unfortunately it's not possible to send your posters to us in advance. The postal system has become much more complicated since Brexit and we don't want to risk having important materials held up at customs when they're needed in the venues. 

 

What should I include on my flyers and posters?

PRAGUE FRINGE LOGO – Download from page 'Press'

GOOUT LOGO (our ticket agents) – Download zip file here

VENUE ADDRESS – See 'Fringe venue names and addresses' above under 'General Information'

FRINGE WEBSITE and ticket text 'More information and tickets at: www.fringe.cz'
(don't use www.praguefringe.com) 

SHOW TITLE

SHOW DATES (figures rather than words, we use the European format of DD/MM)

SHOW TIMES 
Start and finish times in 24-hour clock. Times (including end times) should match the format of the show times we send you (times will be issued by the end of March). 

e.g. 27.05.– 01.06.2023 19:45–20:45

OPTIONAL: QR CODE LINKING TO YOUR PROGRAMME LISTING
It is possible to include a QR code on your poster/flyer with a direct link to your dedicated page in the Fringe online programme. This enables potential audience members to go straight to the ticket purchase section just by scanning the code. You can learn more about creating and using QR codes here

NOT TICKET PRICES - We advise companies to omit this as it makes things simpler – the prices vary (door vs pre-sale, students etc.)

Full info on buying tickets and prices will appear on-line.

Your print materials during the festival

PRINT MATERIALS:

Please bring your posters and flyers to the Print Room during the following opening hours. The Print Room is not accessible outside of these hours. 

Please do not leave your print at your venue when you rehearse. Any printed materials left at venues is likely to get lost. 

 

Print Room
2nd floor, Malostranska Beseda

Opening hours:
Monday 22nd May: 2pm - 4pm 
Tuesday 23rd May: 1:30pm - 3:30pm 
Wednesday 24th May: 1:30pm - 3:30pm 
Thursday 25th May: 1:30pm - 3:30pm 

Our Front of House team will distribute the print around the Fringe venues. 

 

Putting up posters in Fringe venues: 

As stated in your contract, companies should not distribute their own materials in the Fringe venues. There are very strict rules as to where posters may and may not be displayed for each theatre, so our Print and Branding team manage the distribution on your behalf. Posters placed anywhere else around the venues will be removed and companies may incur penalties for damage to paint/woodwork by the theatre.

Posters and flyers in cafes and bars in Prague: 

We've compiled a list of potential flyering spots around the city. You need to ask permission before you leave your materials, (at every location someone will speak enough English to understand). 

Check out the flyering map here

 

Press relations

We encourage you to create a press release about your show and share it with us. 

Our advice is to keep it brief (no longer than 1 side of A4), to include the Fringe website (www.fringe.cz), dates as well as your show information and photo. 

Where should you send your press release?

Please email your press release to press@remove-this.fringe.cz 

A note about the Czech Media:

The Czech media embraces the Fringe. The Fringe has established a good relationship with the most important of the media here that support the Fringe in PR articles, media partnership and the like. Our press coordinator will connect with the Czech media directly who will select shows that they intend to cover. We will supply images on their request. We do not advise companies to connect with the Czech media on an individual basis, they prefer to work through our press contact.

Please note: Part of the major coverage the festival receives in the Czech media is on the websites Divadelní Noviny (www.divadelni-noviny.cz, the Czech ‘The Stage’) and Proti šedi (www.protisedi.cz, youth culture site). Reviewers from these websites attend many shows during the festival and run blogs of Fringe reviews, interviews etc. 

   
Promoting Your Show

How else can you push your show?

Before the Fringe

Social Media 

Read our Social Media Guide for Artists for a full list of tips and recommendations on how to promote your show via social media. 

Download the 'We're performing at #praguefringe2023" graphic here and share on your social media platforms! 

Embassies

We work with all of the major Embassies to promote the festival. We alert specific embassies if shows from their country are part of the programme and invite Ambassadors to performances. You can contact your own embassy to reinforce the message. A list of contract details for most embassies in Prague can be found here: http://www.myczechrepublic.com/embassy_visa/

 

During the Fringe:

Promote each other

Obviously there is no end to what you could do in terms of drumming-up a crowd once in Prague but one thing we highly recommend that all companies do is to promote each other. End of show announcements such as 'the next show in this theatre is...' or 'head over to XXX and see our friends show...' etc. work very well. Audiences rely on, and are actively looking for, ideas of what to see next – word of mouth plays a big part. It’s quite usual at Fringes to even recommend audiences to spread the word if they liked your show! Get out there and see other shows and work out ways to cooperate in terms of distribution etc.

Exit flyering
Giving info to or performing excerpts (in costume is ideal!) to the audiences of other shows that may attract a similar crowd to yours as they enter or leave the theatres is invaluable. Prague Fringe is a relatively intimate festival and you will very quickly get to meet and know the other companies that are performing and the festival staff – make use of that!

Flyers and posters around Prague

Keep your flyer distribution network active around town. A polite hello (even in English) and 'is it ok?' should suffice... say it’s the Fringe Festival! Also saying it’s theatre or comedy will help. 

See our handy map of potential cool places to flyer HERE 

Flyering on the street

In 2002 it became illegal to hand out flyers on the streets of Prague – do so at your own risk! Flyering inside Fringe venues is fine.

Tourism Information Offices

Prague City Tourism is an official partner of the Fringe and will promote the festival via their various stands and offices across the city and online. Their central information office is at: Rytířská 12, 110 00, Praha 1, very close to Můstek metro station. They also have a stand in the arrivals hall at Prague Airport.

Unfortunately, many of the other Prague tourist info centres are privately run with their own mainstream agenda, meaning they are unlikely to allow you to promote your show inside their premises.

Show programmes and merchandise

Can we sell programmes for our show? 

If you wish to bring your own hand-printed complimentary programmes, please give them to the Festival Assistants before your first show and they will happily give these out to your audiences. We don’t sell programmes.

Programmes and marketing materials do not need to be translated into Czech. Our audiences are English-speaking and will understand English-language materials. 

Can we sell merchandise for our show? 

We do not sell merchandise on behalf of performers.

Pre-sales and comps

How are my pre-sales going? 

Historically, pre-sales have made up a relatively low percentage of the overall sales for the Fringe here in Prague. The vast majority of sales have been walk-ups. This is changing over the years and pre-sales are increasing year-on-year, but last-minute door sales are still the majority. 

We do not have the resources to give updates to performers on their pre-sales before the festival. You can ask the door staff for your pre-sales just before each performance. 

Can we have complimentary tickets for friends/company members? 

There is a policy on complimentary ticket requests for company use or performer comps, which is – there aren't any! This is a trial and error decision, which in the end is fair to all. We know how much it costs all companies to stage their works at the festival, (many travel from across the world) and thus how important tickets sales and revenue are. Some companies are large, some are small, and the same with venue size so there could be no fair way of doing it. Also the cost of individual tickets is low enough that this is the fairest, simplest and most democratic way to do things. If you have individual show sponsors or guests coming to your show the best thing to do is buy their tickets or have them buy their tickets from GoOut, as they can provide receipts, so they/you may be able to use them to claim back expenses.

The cheapest way to see shows is to buy a Fringe Pass for 1000 Kč (approx 40 EUR) which gives you entry to 5 shows at a discounted rate of 200 Kč (approx 8 EUR) per show. Buy your fringe passes here

Does the Prague Fringe give out any complimentary tickets? 

Any complimentary tickets which the Festival gives out are to accredited press, sponsors and Fringe staff through the festival office, and are subject to availability after sales so there is no detriment to your ticket income. There are often promoters from across the world Fringe network attending the festival who will also have access to shows. All will be recorded. 

Fringe Photography

Our official Fringe photographer (and his assistant) will shoot all production rehearsals, as well as the general atmosphere of the Fringe and the club night parties. 

The official 2023 photography schedule can be found here.  Please check this schedule and make a note of your allotted time. 

Notes from the photographer: 

1) The photography and rehearsal schedule is tight, please be ready at your allotted time.

2) Each production will receive 5 watermarked low-res photos free of charge. You will be emailed a link to download the files within 24hrs of your rehearsal. 

3) You can buy high-res, watermark-free versions for 1,500 CZK all told (cash or invoice). Please contact the photographer directly to arrange this. Contact details are listed in the photography schedule here

If a Fringe photographer also attends one of your live shows it will not be to the detriment of ticket sales, and they will be very careful not to disturb audience members, including use of silent camera mode and no flash.

We do not allow companies to book external photographers to take photos during performances and audiences are reminded not to take photos at the beginning of every show. 

If you have any questions, please email office@remove-this.fringe.cz 

Prague Fringe Awards

An anonymous panel of industry experts will be watching shows throughout the Fringe and submitting their nominations for the 2023 Prague Fringe Awards. 

The awards are as follows: 

Creative Award

Award given to the company whose production is deemed creatively exceptional. 

Inspiration Award

Award for a new piece of work (no more than two runs previously).
*Please submit the section 'Inspiration Award' in Eventotron to let us know if your show is eligible for consideration for this award. 

Performance Award 

Individual Artist who has excelled in their performance at the festival

Brian’s Life Award - Best Comedy at the Fringe

A new award at the 2023 Fringe for the best stand up or theatre comedy

Prague Fringe Audience Award

Voted for by audience members

The Spirit of the Fringe Award

This award is given in exceptional circumstances to an individual or company who has truly embraced the spirit of the festival.

 

 

The Prague Fringe Audience Award will be announced on the final night of the Festival at the Fringe Club (Malostranska beseda). The rest of the awards will be announced virtually via our website, social media and newsletter in June.