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The Jakarta International Fringe Festival (JakFringe) is the World’s First Digital (Live and Online) performing arts festival.

JakFringe is an initiative of BeritaSatu Media Holdings that provides Indonesia an innovative platform to bridge and connect all major performing and visual arts communities across the archipelago. Consequently, the festival helps showcase Indonesian talent to the rest of the world and vise versa.

In its inaugural year, JakFringe partnered with several leading established cultural groups and organizations such as the Jakarta Comedy Club, Siddharta Artfordable, Lippo Mall Kemang, Cinema XXI, Komunitas Historia Indonesia, Ikatan Sindroma Down Indonesia, Serenity Female Voices, London School Of Public Relations Jakarta, Taman Suropati Chambers, Sahabat Anak, Indonesia Nunchaku Club, and Gelar Presenting Indonesia and others. The focus of the first year was mainly on featuring stand-up comedy, magic, dance, music and cultural performances, as well as visual arts.

Fully endorsed by Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, JakFringe aims to build the foundation of what will become a magnet for both local and international tourists in the years ahead and a celebration of the richness of the performing arts in Indonesia. The live festival took place from 7 to 11 November 2012, presenting the best local and international variety performances to a total live audience of more than 30,500 people.

Over 150 international and local comedians and 200 variety performers took part in the 5-day festival held at XXI Theaters (in Lippo Mall Kemang), Lippo Mall Kemang, Sekolah Pelita Harapan Auditorium, Amigos Mexican Restaurant, and Fez by Aphrodite, all located in the strategic lifestyle and entertainment hub called Kemang, South Jakarta, Indonesia.

History
In early 2012, Sachin Gopalan, the CEO of BeritaSatu Media Holdings, and Eamonn Sadler, the founder of the Jakarta Comedy Club, an English-language comedy club that has been putting on monthly shows for more than a decade, first thought of the idea of an international stand-up comedy festival during their routine weekly meet up. They then outlined their plans to Ramon Papana, dubbed the Godfather of Indonesian comics, to launch a stand-up comedy festival in Indonesia. Ramon leapt at the opportunity to be involved because he believes the festival will help build momentum for stand-up comedy in Indonesia.

The initial idea of an international stand-p comedy festival soon blossomed into an expanded performing arts festival or a fringe festival, that included magic, dance, cultural shows, music, and visual arts. Other eminent personalities from the arena of arts joined the festival as curators of different activities, such as Sari Kusumaningrum, Amir Siddharta, Deddy Corbuzier, Ed Thesiger, Dan Boylan', Sacheen Lasmana, and Ajay Fulwani''. Each bringing in a different aspect to the festival's diverse range of shows and programs.

The inaugural of JakFringe was mentioned by several eminent personalities who have supported art and culture in significant ways, such as Indonesia's Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Mari Pangestu, John Riady and Peter F. Gontha.

The roots of what we now call fringe festivals can be traced back to post-war Britain and the Edinburgh International Festival. In the wake of World War II, there was a need to re-establish and develop European cultural life and the city of Edinburgh took the initiative to bring together performers of theater, opera, music, dance and visual arts for a festival that originally spanned three weeks from August 24 to September 15, 1947.

The term fringe was first used to describe the activities of the unofficial performers by Scottish journalist Robert Kemp, who, while attending the 1948 Edinburgh International Festival, wrote “Round the fringe of official festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before.…I am afraid some of us are not going to be at home during the evenings!”

Since then the Edinburgh International Festival has become known as the “The Fringe” and has become associated largely with live stand-up comedy.

Today, the term fringe has come to describe comedy and performing arts festivals of all types all over the world. JakFringe is the latest addition to the current 160 fringe festivals held across 31 countries. All are members of the World Fringe Congress.

Venues
Lippo Mall Kemang was chosen to be the main stage of JakFringe 2012. A total of 8 stages were spread through the vast compound of the mall, from the ground to the third floor, where a variety of performances captivated the crowd.

Amigos Mexican Restaurant and Fez by Aphrodite were the main venue for the stand-up comedy performances at the beginning of the festival, where local and international comedians shared the same stage. During the weekend, the comedy and magic shows then shifted to the XXI Theaters in Lippo Mall Kemang, where 8 studios were transformed into a friendlier and borderless space for both audiences and comics.

Ticket Prices
Jakfringe includes free and priced events, which vary. Ticket prices are released online weeks prior to the festival under different categories. Ticket prices are also listed in a printed JakFringe guide, which is available at the venues.

Artists
JakFringe allows and invites any type of artist or performer, whether Indonesian or foreigner, to perform on its stages. In its inaugural year, stand-up comedy was the center piece act of the festival and internationally recognized comedians such as Bill Bailey (U.K.), Tom Rhodes and Paul Ogata (U.S.A.), Sammy J (Australia), Andre King (New Zealand), and Harith Iskander (Malaysia) headlined the comedy shows.

Emerging Indonesian stand-up comedians such as Ernest Prakasa, Rindradana, 'Reggy Hasibuan, Asep Suaji, Kemal Pahlevi, Dana Pandawa, and Dwika Putra, among others, collectively headed out for their first bilingual (English and Indonesian language) shows and set the bar high for future local comedians. Indonesia's Deddy Corbuzier who specializes in a specific art of magic called mentalism, shared the stage with Alan Bates, a famed hypnotist from the U.K..

Over 300 performers of variety acts made up about 200 shows in a span of 3 days. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Komunitas Historia Indonesia, Ikatan Sindroma Down Indonesia, Serenity Female Voices, London School Of Public Relations Jakarta, Taman Suropati Chambers, Sahabat Anak, Indonesia Nunchaku Club, and Gelar Presenting Indonesia were among the organizations that contributed performances.

Online competition
The online JakFringe competition will be a year-round compilation of happenings in the world of comedy and performing arts in Indonesia and around the globe, with daily updates of content, competitions and the latest news from the world of live entertainment.

Digital Fringe
Dubbed as the World’s First Digital Fringe Festival, JakFringe generated 19 million impressions on Facebook and 4.45 million Twitter impressions. JakFringe.TV was available on Live Streaming video broadcast throughout the three days of the inaugural festival in 2012, watched by 18,000 unique viewers across 18 different countries.

Sponsors
The anchor sponsor of the first year was the media group itself, working with a major international bank and credit card company, a leading smartphone manufacturer and a mall property company. Several organizations participated in providing services and talent at their own cost as a contribution to the festival. The organizers also got support from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in what was seen as a promotion of the country to the outside world.