Celebrating its 12th year of production in San Diego, the San Diego International Fringe Festival is expanding, bringing more than 60 acts from all over the world to a bigger and better festival experience.

This year, performers from Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, and cities as diverse as Chicago, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Houston join a large group of San Diego County performers in bringing theater, comedy, music, circus, immersive and dance performances to seven different stages throughout San Diego.

Shaun Davis, this year’s festival director of operations, said: “This year is going to be the biggest festival we’ve had in recent memory. Last year we were still recovering from the Covid shutdowns. This year, we’re including many new venues, branching out from our Balboa Park locations.”

The Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater and the Centro Cultural de la Raza will continue to be the venues based in Balboa Park. New venues include Mockingbird Improv and San Diego Dance Theater (LightBox) at Liberty Station; the Wildsong Arts Collective (formerly OB Playhouse) and two performance spaces (New Destiny Church and the No Limits Church) at 4931 Logan Ave. in Lincoln Park owned by Kata Morgan, owner of Les Girls and a frequent Fringe contributor. Bring-your-own venues including Finest City Improv in Hillcrest, Tap Fever Dance Studio in Pacific Beach, and Les Girls in the Midway area.

The festival runs from May 16 through May 26. Tickets are available for purchase; all tickets are $13. Multi-show passes will still be available to purchase: three-show pass is $35, five-show pass is $55, and a 10-show pass is $104. A Fringe tag, necessary to purchase tickets to any show, will also be sold at all venues for $7. All ticket sales go directly to the performing artists. The only money that goes to the festival is from the purchase of the Fringe tags. Go to sdfringe.org for the latest information.