Annual Poster Design Contest
- The sixth annual poster design contest opens on January 1, 2026.
- Interested artists are asked to submit 3-5 examples of previous work by January 23.
- Three artists will be chosen by jury and awarded $150 to submit a design by February 7 for the 2026 Denver Fringe Festival poster.
- From those three, one poster design will be chosen by February 15 to promote the Denver Fringe Festival in June with application on our website banner, programs, t-shirts and festival buttons. The artist of the winning poster design will receive an additional $300 plus two free all-festival passes to the 2026 Denver Fringe Festival.
Read about our 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 poster design artists and follow us @denfringe on Instagram.
***Please submit any questions, samples of work, and entries to ann@denverfringe.org.***
BACKGROUND
The Denver Fringe Festival is an innovative, open-access, annual performing arts festival that supports independent artists. Part of a worldwide movement of Fringe festivals, we attract a diverse range of artistic voices and promote access to the arts. We believe that the arts contribute to vibrant, resilient, inclusive communities. Our guiding principle is arts for all.
The seventh annual Denver Fringe Festival will take place June 3-7, 2026 at performance venues throughout the Five Points/RiNo area and beyond with dozens of original productions including original plays, musicals, solo performance, comedy, improv, dance, aerial and circus arts, and immersive theatrical experiences.
MESSAGING
It's wide open - unleash your ideas! The poster does not have to include any specific imagery, but represent the values of the Denver Fringe Festival:
- creativity, originality, and self-expression
- bold, risky, experimental performance art
- diversity, accessibility and inclusivity
The final poster will be an 11 x 17” poster and must include the Denver Fringe Festival logo and the dates of the Denver Fringe Festival, June 3-7, 2026.
Please keep in mind a design that can be applied to both print (posters, programs, t-shirts, buttons) as well as digital branding on our website and elsewhere. A bonus would be an element or elements that could work well on merch ;)
For more context, here are examples of posters from other fringe festivals: https://www.pinterest.com/chifringefest/fringe-posters/