"YPAM Fringe 2022" limits venues to the Yokohama/Kanagawa area and supports the development of unique venues.

"YPAM Fringe" (formerly TPAM Fringe), an open call program of the "Yokohama Performing Arts Meeting" (YPAM) that has been a popular opportunity for artists to show their works to performing arts professionals in Japan and abroad and develop a new audience and for performing arts professionals to discover new talent will be held again this year. The program will run from December 1st (Thu) to 18th (Sun), 2022. The call for registration is scheduled to open in July 2022. There is no screening process for registration.

YPAM Fringe is gradually reforming itself to continue connecting audiences with the free expression of live performance, with the goal of becoming "a fringe festival that will last for 100 years". As part of this effort, YPAM Fringe limits venues to the Yokohama/Kanagawa area from 2022, aiming to create an intense festival rooted in the local community. In addition, we are considering introducing a program to support the development and utilization of unique venues in the area.

About limiting venues to the Yokohama/Kanagawa area

YPAM (TPAM) Fringe has been held at venues in the Kanagawa/Tokyo area and has been used by a wide variety of artists and venues. By limiting venues to the Yokohama/Kanagawa area, we aim to increase the intensity of the Fringe Festival by making it easier to move from one venue to another and by increasing the number of performances that can be seen in one day by registered YPAM participants and the general audiences. For this reason, from YPAM2022, we will no longer be able to accept registrations for performances at the Tokyo venue (if you have already reserved a venue in Tokyo for Fringe participation, or if this poses a problem, please contact fringe@ypam.jp).

What is a unique venue?

Unique venues are venues with unique characteristics that differ from theaters, halls, and other venues commonly used for performing arts. At the recent YPAM/TPAM Fringe, there have been examples of venues utilizing restaurants, temples, museums, vacant lots, roads, vacant stores, and private homes. YPAM Fringe will continue to explore the possibilities of "unique venues" as an attempt to expand the possibilities of out-of-the-box expression and to foster a performing arts environment that is resilient to adversity.

Support for the development of unique venues

YPAM Fringe 2022 will introduce a support program on a trial basis as a foothold for the development of unique venues. We are also considering providing a small amount of funds to be used for this purpose. Please stay tuned for further details. Please contact us at fringe@ypam.jp for the status of this program at this time.

Reference: Previous (YPAM Fringe 2021) lineup (43 programs, 238 performances)

*Online-only performances cannot be registered.

Please wait for further information on the details of the open call. 

We look forward to your participation.