Castlemaine Fringe Festival

10/06/2026

🌊🐙 CALLING ALL SEA MONSTER CREATORS! 🐙🌊

The monsters are back — and this time they've surfaced from the deep!

We're inviting artists of all ages to design an original underwater monster for our Monster Mash Closing Garden Party at the 2027 Castlemaine Fringe Festival.

🦑 Think sea monsters, scuba-diving creatures, underwater oddballs, deep-sea explorers, mermaids gone rogue, octopus inventions, coral-covered beasts or mysterious creatures from the ocean depths.

✨ Two winning designs will be chosen!
✨ Winners receive a $100 Castlemaine Art Supplies voucher.

We want creatures bursting with imagination, personality and aquatic adventure. Funny, spooky, colourful, curious — anything goes!

Enter Here:
https://forms.gle/jwfssW84pjfhpugKA

Competition Closes: July 31st

Tag an artist, a young ocean explorer or someone who loves creating weird and wonderful creatures! 🌊👾

🐠🦀🪸🐙

08/06/2026

Love Castlemaine Fringe?

Help us keep supporting local artists, bold ideas and unforgettable community experiences by making a tax-deductible donation through the Australian Cultural Fund.

Every contribution, big or small, helps fuel the future of Fringe.

Donate here:
https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000RySjR/fringe-forward-fuel-the-future-of-castlemaine-fringe

Thank you for keeping the spirit of Fringe alive.

04/06/2026

Second drop of Sir David Attenboroughs 100th Birthday pics by Diana Domonkos Photography- This time epic performers! Such a great night, so much laughter and always space for more folks to come help us make the magic happen, do reach out if you want to sign up as a volunteer!

03/06/2026

Happy 100th Birthday We had a lovely time celebrating you in Castlemaine. This first drop of pics is mostly of people - loads of our lovely audience and some of our smashing volunteers - Second drop (later today) will be of performers and installations. Fabulous photos by Diana Domonkos Photography

22/05/2026

🎨 CALL OUT TO ARTISTS 🎨

Our 2027 Poster Competition is now open for submissions!

We’d absolutely love to see your work entered this year 💫

✨ $500 Prize
📅 Submissions close 30 June 2026

https://forms.gle/BKXYV9pbp6sMtbr77

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out — we’d love to hear from you!

20/05/2026

It's 's national volunteers week, so please join us in saying a huge THANK YOU to all of the amazing Fringe volunteers!

Setting up stages, washing glasses, selling raffle tickets, mopping floors, serving snaks, taking tickets, putting up posters - the list of volunteers jobs is HUGE and volunteers help make all the Fringe magic happen! We are so grateful to you all for your time and energy.

All Castlemaine Fringe volunteers are invited to join us at a very special screening of It's a Kind Of Magic, our sold out wearable arts runway show that was presented in the State Festival. If you are a Fringe volunteer and haven't got your free ticket yet grab one here: https://events.humanitix.com/fringe-agm-and-screening

15/05/2026

The biggest and bestest shout out for everyone who came along and supported us at Sir David's 100th birthday last friday!

We were SO grateful to the sponsors who helped us make the space look magical, especially who leant us all of those incredible plants plants and who leant us all their amazing giant stuffed animals and helped us turn the town hall into an incredible safari wonderland!

We recieved food donations from in putting the soup and platters together! And and leant us heaps of rammekins and cocktail glasses.

Raffle prizes were thanks to and

Thanks also to for a $1000 community grant and use of the Town hall, and for the beers!

If you attended the event and would like to provide your feedback you can do so here: https://forms.gle/KHqZXJG6ekrycSe2A

13/05/2026

Join us for a special screening of 'It’s A Kind of Magic' — our sold out wearable art spectacular staged inside the Old Castlemaine Gaol.

📍 Phee Broadway Theatre
📅 Friday 29 May
🕖 7pm–10pm

We are still in awe of the hard yards, sheer genius, bold creativity and extraordinary collaboration that brought this unforgettable event to life. For everyone lucky enough to witness it on the night, it was truly something special.

And now, thanks to the brilliant work of Claire Dunning and Ben Harding from Storyland, the magic was captured on film in all its glory.

The evening will also include a very brief Annual Report to the Community (AGM).

Please note: attendance is open to participants of the show, Fringe members and Fringe volunteers only.

🎟 Tickets:
https://events.humanitix.com/fringe-agm-and-screening

Not a member yet? Update your membership or join Fringe at:
www.castlemainefringe.org.au
It's worth the price of admission alone!

28/04/2026

We interrupt your scrolling for a VERY IMPORTANT announcement. There is a PUMPKIN competition at the Castlemaine Farmers' Market this sunday, and our very own Fringe Director Azzy Jay will be joining the esteemed panel of judges for the kids pumpkin decorating competition (no carving, just fun!). So get your googley eyes and glue guns out (with supervision of course) and lets see what masterful art our under 12's can create!

🎃 GIANT PUMPKIN COMPETITION – Sunday 3 May at the Castlemaine Farmers Market!
Who’s grown the biggest or most bonkers pumpkin in the Mount Alexander region this season?
Bring your heavyweight champions along and compete in these fun categories:
• 🏆 Heaviest Pumpkin
• Most Unusual / Quirkiest Pumpkin
• Childrens’ Best Decorated (no carve) Category (under 12)
Prizes include local produce hampers & serious bragging rights!
📅 Sunday 3 May 2026
🕘 9:00am – 1:00pm
📍 Western Reserve, Forest Street, Castlemaine
Free Entry. Pumpkins can be dropped off from 9 am. Winners announced at midday.

Tag your fellow gardeners and pumpkin growers 👇

24/04/2026

Just 10 Tickets left people until this fabulous event is officially SOLD OUT! (so get in quick). You can also now pre-order your themed grazing platters though the ticket link!

https://events.humanitix.com/sir-david-attenborough-s-100th-birthday-variety-show

We also need a whole herd (wildebeasts) charm (finches) and gaggle (geese) of volunteers to make this wild weird and wonderful show come to life!
Sign up for a volunteer shift here: https://volunteersignup.org/AXLH4