Southern New Brunswick residents who enjoy a good laugh and visual arts can attend the Fundy Fringe Festival in Saint John this summer.

The 12th annual festival will take place Aug. 19 to 24. All venues are centred around the festival’s headquarters, the BMO Studio Theatre uptown.

Drew Murdock, the festival director, said shows will incorporate theatre, dance, performance art, stand-up comedy and more performed by companies or by solo artists.

“We have between 15 and 20 shows and they perform over five days, so each act performs every day, so each day you have a chance to see all of them if you can time it well. If you come for all five days, then you can see every show on the lineup easily,” said Murdock.

“There is no limit to what you might experience at the fringe and there’s a lot of variety and that’s what makes it so great.”

Murdock said the festival is open to anyone, adding high school students have performed in the past, and elementary students can perform if their parents sign a waiver.

“Anyone can apply with a show or an idea and there’s a $25 application fee, and then those names all get put into a hat no matter what,” he said.

There are 34 festivals associated with the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals. Fringe festivals are un-juried, uncensored, accessible to audiences and artists, and return 100 per cent of the ticket price to participating artists.

“Other than the Halifax Fringe, they’re our closest fringe festival, so there’s no other way to experience fringe in Atlantic Canada other than of course if you’re going farther away to P.E.I. or Halifax,” he said.

“If people want to experience a fringe festival and they never have, we encourage you to come visit the Saint John Fringe. It’s a friendly festival. It’s not as big and intimidating as the Montreal or Toronto fringe,

“You can meet the artist, meet the volunteer and mingle. It’s a great way to experience a fringe festival if you are new to it.”

Volunteers are still needed for the festival and anyone can apply for roles such as ticket scanning and ushering, post/pre-show clean-up, and audience supervision.

There are also off-site volunteer responsibilities that include copy-editing promotional materials, social media boosting, and pre-festival poster distribution.

Details on how to apply and volunteer can be found by clicking here.