BORDERLIGHT FESTIVAL

Founded in 2015 by Dale Heinen and Jeffrey Pence, BorderLight’s mission is to present visionary international theatre and build cross-cultural understanding.

The BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival is a hybrid festival model, featuring

• a curated selection of international touring productions,
• collaborations between Cleveland organizations and international artists, and
• a fringe festival programmed through an open call for submissions, featuring all genres of theatrical performance self-produced by local and national artists.

The BorderLight Festival debuted in 2019 as a biennial summer event.

In our inaugural year, BorderLight hosted 40 unique productions and special events from artists from 8 countries + across the US, selling over 4.5K tickets and attracting a total of 10K visitors to downtown Cleveland for free public performances and other special events.

"BorderLight has ignited a beacon." - Thomas Mulready, COOL Cleveland

After postponing our 2nd biennial live festival due to COVID-19 and transitioning to a virtual Fringe Festival 2021, The BorderLight Festival is excited to announce the festival’s return, July 20 - 24, 2022!