The Edmonton International Fringe Festival wants you to show your support by adopting a portable toilet that will be in service during the festival.
Originally launched on April 1 as a joke, the Adopt A Porta-Potty campaign is now an official festival fundraiser. There are a total of 35 porta-potties up for adoption. The cost to adopt a potty is $250 and it is tax deductible.
Adoptive parents for the festival potties will also get a big sign to mark their “throne.” Megan Dart, executive director for the Fringe Theatre, says fun and creative names are encouraged.
“We will make sure that it is fresh as a daisy at the beginning of every festival day,” said Dart. “You’re just adopting it. You get to put your name on it. You can even have a lot of fun with the name puns. Very encouraged.”
The cheeky campaign is part of a fundraising movement to help sustain the festival. Organizers hope to attract monthly donors to support the Fringe. Dart says they started with 34 monthly donors last year and it has grown to more than 500 monthly donors. The support is something Dart says they rely on and are very grateful for.
“This is really a practical way that our community can help us offset the hard costs of producing North America’s largest, longest running Fringe Theatre Festival,” said Dart.
If all 35 toilets on the festival site are adopted, it will offset the cost for the potty and hand wash station rentals. As well as the cost for greywater removal for the entire 11 days of the festival.
The Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival runs Aug. 14-24. It has been running for over 44 years.
More information about the campaign can be found online.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall.
