We are currently seeking volunteers to help produce the 2025 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival!

The Pittsburgh Fringe is run entirely by volunteers, and we need your help!  As a fiscally sponsored non-profit organization, we rely on the kind hearts and strong shoulders of those who love the Fringe. We are looking for outgoing, dependable and friendly candidates to help both leading up to and during the festival with production and pre-production activities.

 

​We are an entirely volunteer-run organization and we operate on a very small budget. Even our Executive Director does this for the love of it, so we are unfortunately not able to offer any compensation for volunteers (only cool T-Shirts, buttons, great titles, connections, experience, and friendship).

**Staff applications will stay open on a rolling basis leading up to this year’s festival, and we will bring people onto the team throughout that time as needed!

TIME COMMITMENT:
The Pittsburgh Fringe Festival runs March 20th – 29th, 2025. Some of these positions will involve more work leading up the festival, whereas some almost exclusively apply to the dates of the festival itself. We can discuss and adapt some tasks based on your availability. We are completely willing to work around other commitments including job schedules, life schedules, etc. but some positions may require you to ask for the days of the festival off in advance.

INTERNSHIPS:
If you are a university student interested in working for the Fringe as an internship or for college credit, we are happy to discuss options with you. Our Executive Director is a professor and loves to create just the right opportunities for students to help them learn. We don’t want interns serving coffee.  We want them learning through experience, and fringes are a great way to do this!

If you are a professor reading this, please contact us about what we can do to help your class or students get the experience they need!

A lot of work goes into making the Fringe happen each year, and we love working with people from many different skill sets and interests. Please feel free to select multiple areas of interest on your application form. If you’re interested in helping with something other than what is described below, we’d love to hear from you. Just select Other on the application form.

We are currently recruiting folks to help with the following areas:

Marketing/Public Relations
Social Media
Performing Artist Management
Venue Management
Visual Arts Management
Accessibility
Grant Writing
Development/Fundraising
Box Office Management
Fringe Central Programming
Award Coordination
Fringe Review Coordination
On-Site Festival Volunteers (throughout the festival in March)
Other
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(See below for descriptions of each area)

If any applicants interested in working with the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival have a desire to use the Fringe as a credit on their resume/CV, we have offered some example title positions below. We are also happy to work with applicants to determine what title makes the most sense for you. If there’s another title that you feel better suits the work you can do with us, let us know! We’ll be happy to accommodate as much as we can.

 

Marketing/Public Relations

Potential titles may include: Marketing Assistant, Communications Manager, Media Relations Assistant, Sponsorship Liaison, etc.
​
Responsibilities may include:

• Creating press releases and responding to media inquiries
• Helping generate a marketing strategy for the festival
• Generate content that helps engage and educate the public on what Fringe festivals are and why they might want to get involved
• Creating promotional materials for the festival (both digital and print)
• Identify and coordinate local marketing opportunities – shops, restaurants, festivals, farmers markets, etc.
• Ensure wide and effective distribution of publicity material – Festival programs, posters, flyers, and postcards along with individual shows’ posters

 

​We want to know what you think, too! There will be room for input on how the Fringe Team can improve our Marketing / PR strategy, and we welcome any and all ideas applicants might have.

 

Social Media

Potential titles may include: Social Media Associate/Coordinator, Content Creator, Digital Strategist, etc.
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Responsibilities may include:

• Creating fun and engaging social media content
• Posting to and managing the Fringe’s various social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube)
• Creating accompanying captions and tags
• Responding to comments/direct messages in a timely manner
• Being on-site during the festival to gather content at different venues, film interviews with artists, post updates about day-to-day happenings, etc.
• Tracking data analytics and investigating opportunities to boost engagement

•  

We want to know what you think, too! There will be room for input on how the Fringe Team can improve our Social Media strategy, and we welcome any and all ideas applicants might have.​

 

 

Performing Artist Management

Potential titles may include: Performing Artist Relations Coordinator, Artist/Performer Liaison, Line Producer, etc.
Responsibilities may include:

• Facilitating communication between performing artists and the Fringe at large (venues, producers, fellow artists, etc.)
• Assisting Fringe Artists with show related needs and arrangement of resources, including technical equipment, casting, etc.
• Communicate with Venue Management, Box Office, and wider Fringe Team about any changes/updates to the artists’ plans
• Help with day-of set up and tear down of shows as needed
• Help train and share information with artists on marketing pre-Festival, during the Festival, etc.
• Communicate with past artists about what they are up to that we can promote, celebrate, etc.
• Help arrange billeting for out-of-town artists with the help of other Fringe staff

 

 

Venue Management

Potential titles may include: Venue Relations Coordinator, Venue/Space Liaison, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Identify and recruit potential venues in the community
• Working directly with various venues before, during, and after the Festival to ensure proper use of the space
• Overseeing performance schedules for each venue
• Assisting and supervising Fringe artists during performances and technical rehearsals
• Working with Box Office volunteers to ensure good communication with audiences, and to get shows started on time
• Handling and troubleshooting technical problems or needs of artists with the assistance of other Fringe Staff
• Overseeing cleanliness and safety of all venue spaces used by Pittsburgh Fringe, assuring a positive environment for artists, patrons and venue staff
• Serving as the main contact point between Fringe staff and venue owners, communicating all information about performances and venue needs in a timely and appropriate manner,
• Assist with load-in and load-out at venues as needed
• Gather feedback from artists, venues and audience experiences for use in future Fringe Festival planning

 

 

Visual Arts Management

Potential titles may include: Visual Arts Manager, Visual Arts Relations Coordinator, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Managing the visual arts component of the festival
• Facilitating communication between visual artists and the Fringe at large (venues, producers, fellow artists, etc.)
• Overseeing coordination of gallery set-up, from installation to tear down
• Responsible for ensuring safe delivery of artwork to and from Fringe spaces
• Assisting Fringe Artists with work-related needs
• Gather feedback from visual artists, venues and audience experiences for use in future Fringe Festival planning

 

 

 

​Accessibility

Potential titles may include: Accessibility Officer, Accessibility Coordinator, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Gathering information from venues/producers on their various accessibility features and requirements
• Communicating with audience/artists to assist with any accessibility needs they may have
• Assist in educating Fringe team members, artists, venues, etc. about accessibility standards
• Assist with opportunities to acquire access materials and equipment
• Help artists schedule and market accessible events

 

 

Grant Writing

Potential titles may include: Grant Writer, Grant Researcher, Grant Editor, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Research and identify new funding prospects including government, corporate, foundation and private opportunities (alongside Development/Fundraising team)
• Assist in writing grant proposals using appropriate data and information about the festival
• Track the progress of grant applications

 

 

​Development/Fundraising

Potential titles may include: Development Associate, Fundraising Coordinator, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Research and identify fundraising opportunities to support the growth of the festival (alongside Grant Writing team)
• Organize fundraising events leading up to and during the festival
• Pursue sponsorship opportunities (alongside Marketing team)

 

 

Box Office Management

Potential titles may include: Box Office Manager, Box Office Coordinator, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Oversee the process of ticket sales at various Fringe venues, providing quality customer service
• Help set-up and manage box office table(s) at venues
• Field audience questions/concerns, both in person and through email, phone, etc.
• Help train ushers in ticket scanning and sales
• Produce box office reports and house reports for shows as needed

 

 

Fringe Central Programming

Potential titles may include: Fringe Central Programming Manager, Fringe Central Event Coordinator, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Creating and organizing events in our Fringe Central space that help elevate the spirit of the festival (i.e. silent disco nights, game nights, meet-and-greets, etc.)
• Recruit and liaison with potential vendors for the space
• Help set-up and decorate for events in Fringe Central as needed
• Maintain a calendar of events for the space

 

 

Award Coordination

Potential titles may include: Awards Coordinator, Awards Manager, etc.

Responsibilities may include:

• Help develop a coordinated awards system for the festival, including awards for different genres
• Help organize an awards ceremony to celebrate the end of the festival
• Design award materials for nominees and recipients
• Connect with organizations in the community that may want to present or sponsor an award

 

 

Fringe Review Coordination

Potential titles may include: Fringe Review Liaison, Review Coordinator, etc.

Fringe Review is a reviews publication based in Edinburgh that we partner with!
Responsibilities may include:

• Recruiting and managing reviewers for each show
• Assisting reviewers with online accreditation process for Fringe Review
• Scheduling reviewers for performances and arranging comp tickets as needed
• Exploring ways to publish reviews locally (alongside marketing team)

 

 

On-Site Festival Volunteers (throughout the festival in March)

Potential titles may include: Usher, Box Office Assistant, Photographer, Gallery Attendant, Stage Manager, Lighting/Sound Operator, etc.

If you are interested in helping for a few hours or a few days during the festival itself, we want to hear from you!

 

 

Other

If you’re interested in helping with something other than what we have described so far, we’d love to hear from you. Just select Other on the application form and let us know what you’re interested in!