JOY Burch has called for expressions of interest from Canberra producers to deliver an “exciting, diverse and alternative artistic program for the 2016 Fringe Festival”.

Joy described the Fringe as an important annual event in the ACT which showcases the diversity of alternative contemporary arts created here.

She said the event would once again complement the National Multicultural Festival in 2016, and that there would be an option for a further year of funding for the 2017 event.

2015 Fringe producer, Chenoeh Miller, told “CityNews” this morning that she would definitely be applying and that she understood from a meeting with Ms Burch that the Government would indeed be considering a two year contract.

“This opens up the possibility of building the Fringe,” Miller said. Years of having one-off funding, she said, had meant that the event was in need of a recognisable character, though she believed that it had gone very well and that that she was on the right track.

Expressions of Interest for the 2016 Fringe Festival producer are now open and will close on Monday, May 18. ACT-based individuals and organisations are invited to apply. Information for applicants is available from artsACT on 6207 2384 or arts.act.gov.au