That’s right. In order to make your Fringe experience quicker and smoother, cash sales will ONLY be available for ADVANCE sales made at the incite Fringe Info Hub located in the Lister Block (28 James St N – entrance on King William St) from July 17-27 during service hours

• Weekdays: 3pm-9pm
• Saturdays: 12pm-9pm
• Sundays: 12pm-8pm

Debit and Credit Card sales are available at all venues beginning July 17.

Yes. Cash sales will be available for advance sales at the incite Fringe Info Hub at the Lister Block (28 James St N – entrance on King William St) July 17-27 during service hours.

• Weekdays: 3pm-9pm
• Saturdays: 12pm-9pm
• Sundays: 12pm-8pm

A Fringe Benefits Button is required for every Fringe patron over the age of 12 to access paid indoor shows. The Fringe Benefits Button is a one-time purchase of $5.

Why do we ask patrons to buy a button? Because 100% of the base ticket price goes directly back to Fringe artists. You pay for a $14 ticket, and that $14 goes straight into the pockets of the folks on that stage. That’s why the Fringe is so important for independent artists––but it means we have to find other ways to fund the festival.

The Fringe Benefits Button is how our audiences can support the festival itself. Every Fringe Benefits Button sold helps Hamilton Fringe to create new opportunities for future Fringe artists to share their work with you.

ALSO! Showing your button to participating Fringe Benefits partner businesses around town gets you exclusive deals and discounts! That means more savings for you while you’re supporting the Fringe AND local businesses. It’s a rare win-win-win situation! Check HFTco.ca/visit-hamilton often to see the latest list of Fringe Benefits partners. 

Fringe Benefits Buttons are available now for purchase online, and at all in-person venues after July 17. You only need to buy a Fringe Benefits Button ONCE–just make sure you remember to wear it! 

We’ve helped you out by including a Fringe Benefits Button in your order when you purchase tickets or a pass. If you don’t need additional buttons after you buy your first one, just update the quantity to “0” or you can keep buying buttons to give to all your friends to join you at a show. Easy breezy!

Buttons will be distributed to patrons beginning July 17. 

If you’ve bought your Fringe Benefits Button online, just show us your email receipt as proof-of-purchase. 

You have a couple options where you can pick your button up:

• Visit us at the incite Fringe Info Hub at the Lister Block  (28 James St N – entrance on King William) after 3pm on weekdays and after 12pm on weekends.
• At the venue box office for your first show. We’ll give you your button once we check you in!

Yes. Buttons will be available for purchase in-person beginning on the first full day of performances: July 17. 

You have a couple options where you can buy your button:

• Visit us at the incite Fringe Info Hub at the Lister Block  (28 James St N – entrance on King William) after 3pm on weekdays and after 12pm on weekends..
• At the venue box office for any show. Buy your button at the same time you buy your ticket(s) to any indoor performance.

Using your Hamilton Fringe Festival multi-show pass is a two step process: (1) buying your pass; (2) booking your shows. 

If you bought a pass, don’t forget to book your tickets!

When you are logged into your account (the same account/email address you used when you bought your pass), our ticket system will recognize you as a passholder and will automatically make passholder tickets available to you. 

For example: if you bought a Fringe Sampler 3-Show Pass, you’ll see this when you purchase tickets for a show:

Just choose your passholder ticket(s) and add them to your cart.

The ticketing system will track your pass use for you. Once you’ve redeemed all the tickets associated with your pass, you can’t add more passholder tickets to your cart. Note: the Fringe Sampler Passholder ticket is limited to one (1) ticket per performance. Any Fringe Binge, Fringe Frenzy, or Fringe Double Frenzy Passholder ticket is limited to two (2) tickets per performance.

You can also use your pass for a walk-up ticket at the door, as long as you arrive with plenty of time and the show is not sold out. Please give the email address and full name under which you bought the pass and the Box Office at the venue can book your ticket. Remember though: booking your tickets in advance is the only way to guarantee a seat!

Passes are non-transferable (the person who bought the pass must be in attendance).

If your passholder tickets are not appearing in the checkout process, please email boxoffice@HFTco.ca or call 289-698-2234 and a Box Office representative will look into the issue.

• Accessibility details for each venue are available on our venues page here.

• We welcome support persons who accompany a person with disabilities, and will grant free admission to performances and events where a support worker is required for a person with disabilities to attend or participate. Support Person & Personal Support Worker tickets must be booked in advance.

• For details about additional accessibility measures offered by HFTco, go to HFTco.ca/accessibility.

• You can contact the Box Office directly at boxoffice@HFTco.ca or 289-698-2234. We’re happy to answer your questions and make arrangements to ensure you have the best possible experience.

You will receive a Purchase Reminder Email the day before your event. Your Order Confirmation or Purchase Reminder Email acts as your ticket and contains the Venue, Show Date and Show Time. Please check in with the Box Office at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time.

Check your spam/junk folder for an order confirmation from ‘donotreply@eventotron.com’; some inboxes filter out the address.

If you still do not see an order confirmation after checking your spam/junk folder, please email boxoffice@HFTco.ca and a box office team member will look into the issue.

Reminder emails are sent the day before the scheduled start time of an event. If you purchase a ticket after that time, your order confirmation is all you need.

If you do not have your order confirmation email or a reminder notice, please email boxoffice@HFTco.ca and a box office team member will look into the issue.

All shows start ON TIME. Some performances may be able to seat latecomers within the first 15 minutes, but it is not guaranteed — it depends on the venue, the seating location, and whether a company has decided to allow late seating or not. Plan to arrive at least 10 minutes early to avoid disappointment.

Between July 17th-27th, the incite Fringe Info Hub at the Lister Block (28 James St N – entrance on King William) will be open 3PM- 9PM Weekdays, 12PM-9PM Saturdays, and 12PM-8PM on Sundays between July 17th-27th. 

You can reach a box office team member by emailing boxoffice@HFTco.ca.  If you include your phone number in your email, the Box Office Manager will either reply to your email or phone you (if you would prefer to be contacted by phone, please indicate that in your email).

You can phone the Hamilton Fringe office at 289-698-2234, leave a voicemail, and a Box Office Representative will follow up.

Before July 17th you will hear back from us within two (2) business days. Between July 17th-27th we will respond within 24 hours or less. After July 27th we will respond within three business days. The HFTco office will be closed August 16 – September 2, 2025.

If you have purchased a multi-show pass, you will need to log in using the email you used when purchasing the pass. You will be sent a verification code which can be used to sign in. Once you have logged into your account, any passes or special tickets associated with your account will automatically appear in your cart when buying tickets.

At the top of your screen there is a yellow icon that says “Account”. Enter in your email and type in the verification sent to your inbox. This will allow you to set a password, view purchased tickets, your current cart and also your account.

At the top of your screen there is a blue icon that says “Cart”. Clicking on this will open a box office popup.

This is where you can view the items in your cart, or provide a donation. To change the quantity or remove items from your cart, click the “edit” icon beside your item.

While all base ticket sales go directly to the artist, a small processing fee goes toward  offsetting the costs of staffing and operating the ticketing system. Per-ticket booking fees are $2.75. Pass price includes a one-time booking fee of $5.00, and all per-ticket booking fees are waived!

No. All our outdoor events are FREE, and you can just drop in. That includes all Fringe Boulevard programming (including Opening Night Kick-Off and the Closing Night Awards), Kids Club Fun Day, and Fringe On The Streets. 

Some Fringe Boulevard events may suggest a FREE registration (ex: Bob Ross Paint-along). In these cases, registration is recommended to guarantee a spot – but not required.

There are 3 ways to donate to the Fringe!

1. While checking out your tickets, there will be a “Tip the Fringe” dropdown section beneath customer details and accessibility notes.
2. At any performance, you can make a cash donation into the “Tip the Fringe” bucket or use your debit or credit card to easily tap our $5 donation device. 
3. You can donate anytime by heading to give-can.keela.co/donate-to-hftco. Consider becoming a monthly donor for the most impact!

All ticket sales are final. There are no refunds. Exchanges may be made for a different date of the same show by contacting boxoffice@HFTco.ca or calling 289-698-2234 at least 48 hours in advance. There is an exchange fee of $3 per ticket. Ticket exchanges cannot be processed at the door. If you have made an error in the booking process or something doesn’t look right in your Order Confirmation Email, please contact us at boxoffice@HFTco.ca and we will do our best to assist you.

Due to popular demand, this special pass for Fringe superfans is back! Double your Fringe, double your fun, with a Fringe Double Frenzy 20-Show Pass. It’s exactly the same as the Fringe Frenzy 10-Show Pass, but DOUBLED! This way, if you are interested in seeing up to 20 shows, you don’t need to buy multiple 10-show passes.

Some Fringe companies have chosen to offer Mask-Mandatory performances. All audience members, volunteers, and staff at a Mask-Mandatory performance are required to wear a mask while in the playing space (i.e. inside the theater/auditorium).

If you have booked a ticket to a Mask-Mandatory performance, your ticket will indicate that:

A relaxed performance is a performance that caters to audiences who have various access needs that a traditional theatre performance does not accommodate. A relaxed performance can include: 

• Allowing audiences to enter, move around throughout and exit the theatre as needed,
• Allowing audiences to make noise or sounds,
• those who need to keep their phone on will be able to do so, on silent or on vibrate,
• a scent-free environment,
• throughout the show, there will be some light over the audience
• The sound will not go above approximately 85 dB for extended periods of time.

In addition to “Relaxed Performance” and “Mask-Mandatory” options, Hamilton Fringe (HFTco) invites interested artists to consider offering an “Affinity Performance.”

Borrowed from the success of Jeremy O. Harris’s Black Out Night for his play “Slave Play”, theatre organizations across North America have started offering Affinity Performances for other equity-seeking, marginalized, and underrepresented communities with whom the artist/company identifies and the content of the performance explores. Examples of Affinity Performances beyond Black Out Night include Pride Night, Disability Night, and New Parents with Children. 

While the intention is to encourage audience members who have not traditionally been welcomed into theatre spaces, it does not override the Canadian Association of Fringe Festival (CAFF) policy of inclusion. HFTco reinforces this perspective: anyone is allowed to purchase tickets to any performance and we will not turn away individuals. Likewise, individuals from invited communities may not be able to make your selected Affinity Performance date, and they remain welcome to attend a performance for a different date.

Any audience members attending an Affinity Performance should be aware that there is a specific community that is being invited however anyone/everyone who attends the show and is respectful to the artists, staff, and fellow attendees is welcome.

Merch items can be picked up at the Fringe Info Hub at the Lister Block, 28 James St N. Entrance on King William, during operating hours.

Weekdays: 3PM-9PM
Saturdays: 12PM-9PM
Sundays: 12PM-8PM

Please have your order confirmation available to confirm purchase.