Kids Day

All-day fun for tots and tykes

Welcome to Kids Day at the Fringe!

Saturday, September 26 • Little Fringe. BIG fun.

An ENTIRE day devoted to the youngest fringers in downtown Rochester. Ready for a full day of kid-friendly events, shows, and activities the whole family can enjoy?

View All Family Friendly Shows in Chronological Order Here

DISCO KIDS

Back by Mom and Pop demand, it’s a big party for pint-sized partiers at Disco Kids.  Lights. music, and glow sticks!  Welcome to the Fringe’s not-so-silent disco!

Time: 12pm - 1:20pm
FREE
Ages: All dancers who can “bust a move”
Venue:  Spiegelgarden, One Fringe Place, Corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Across from Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY 14604

PUMPKIN PAINTING

Pumpkins go to great lengths to become wildly imaginative creations at our super-creative, OUTDOOR Pumpkin Painting jamboree. Turn One Fringe Place into a giant pumpkin patch, kids!

Time: 12pm - 2pm
Cost: $7 per pumpkin. Pay at the door. (AND you get to take it home!)
Ages:  All great pumpkins
Venue:  Spiegelgarden, One Fringe Place, Corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Across from Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY 14604

CHALK ART

The fun continues after the wee boogie with the forever-popular Kids Chalk Art. Transform One Fringe Place into one giant, colorful canvas. We bring the chalk, you bring the creativity!

Time: 12pm - 3pm
FREE
Ages: All busy little fingers with huge imaginations
Venue:  Spiegelgarden, One Fringe Place, Corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Across from Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY 14604

9th Avenue Street Circus

A duo performance featuring multiple circus skills simultaneously combined, forming a kinesthetic compilation far greater than the sum of its parts. Balancing, spinning, juggling, hula hooping, teetering on unstable surfaces—all at the same time! Geriatric acrobatics and audience participation, a multitasking marvel for family friendly fun in the Spiegelgarden.

Time: 12pm - 3pm
FREE
Ages: All who love to be awed
Venue:  Spiegelgarden, One Fringe Place, Corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Across from Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY 14604

National Day of Play

Celebrate National Day of Play with Healthi Kids and the Western NY IPA with the biggest play day Rochester has ever seen! Want to build a fort with Jenga blocks? Create a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk? Invent a new game? Awesome! We’ll have lots of activities and supplies to get your imagination going. Whether you stop by on your way to another show or spend the whole day playing with us, there will be fun for all ages. 

Time: 12pm - 3pm
FREE
Ages: All who play
Venue:  Spiegelgarden, One Fringe Place, Corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Across from Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY 14604

FRINGE STREET BEAT

It’s BACK. The excitement, the energy, the adrenaline-pumping action that is Fringe Street Beat returns. The best teams bring the moves. The DJ brings the beats.

Trials: 12:30pm - 3pm
Finals: 3:30pm - 5pm
Cost: FREE
Ages: All dance lovers
Venue: Martin Luther King, Jr. Park (353 Court Street, Rochester, NY 14607)

CIRQUE DU FRINGE: ANCHORS AWAY

Join us in the Spiegeltent for a family-friendly matinee of hilarious comedy and thrilling feats starring Vegas legends Matt and Heidi Morgan! Is there a doctor in the house?! You may just need one to treat you for all the heart stopping entertainment that awaits you on board the beautiful HMS Spiegeltent! Let our crew whisk you away on a cruise of a lifetime that will leave you feeling like a cheeky sunset cocktail on the open sea. Hosted by the high strung, overly familiar, and self-proclaimed “irresistibly charming” cruise director, Hilly VonMorgan this night promises to be a night you won’t soon forget. Anything is possible on the HMS Spiegeltent! Miraculous acrobatic feats, mesmerizing aerialists, and…murder? Help a couple of international cruise guests find out if it was the Russian Siren? The seemingly innocent Jump roper? Fabio and Ashely, the adorable aerial duo? Or possibly Lou from Henrietta?! Join us inside the Spiegeltent to find out who the culprit may be!

Time: 2:30-4pm
Cost:  Starting at $23 for kids
Ages: 5 and up
Venue:  Spiegeltent, One Fringe Place, Corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Across from Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY 14604


  • Check out Kids Shows in chronological order by clicking here.
  • Check out Family-Friendly Shows in chronological order by clicking here.

More to see and do at Fringe on September 26!

  • Fringe fun means food truck breaks at One Fringe Place. Discover the delicious side of Fringe.

Need some help planning your Fringe?

  • Did you know the KIDS FRINGE genre on our website has events all twelve days?
  • You can also search for shows throughout the Fringe lineup by filtering for age-appropriate events (i.e.: ALL, 5+, 13+, etc.).

You have many options to entertain the whole family. We’re thrilled Kids Fringe is one. Now, GO. Be a kid again.

Kids Day at Fringe. Nonstop fun for little ones (and parents) at new events and family favorites.

Shows at Kids Day

Cirque du Fringe: Anchors Away

All New for 2026! Is there a doctor in the house?! You may just need one to treat you for all the heart-stopping entertainment that awaits you on board the beautiful HMS Spiegeltent! Let our crew whisk you away on a cruise of a lifetime that will leave you feeling like a cheeky sunset cocktail on the open sea. Hosted by the high strung, overly familiar, and “charming” cruise director, this night promises to be a night you won’t soon forget. High Seas. High Stakes. High-Flying Circus!

  • Length: 90 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Multidisciplinary & Circus

Dram-o-cracy

Sample four premium, unreleased, single malts from the award-winning Finger Lakes Distilling in this exclusive, insider tasting experience led by president Brian McKenzie. Set in the Spiegeltent at happy hour, guests will sip, savor, and learn about the whiskey-making process - then cast their vote. The winning whiskey will be laid down and bottled as the official 2027 Fringe Whiskey. Bold spirits, expert guidance, and a Fringe twist: at Dram-o-cracy, every sip -and every vote- counts.

  • Length: 60 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Multidisciplinary & Circus

Gospel Sunday

The most soulful, spiritual, uplifting experience at Fringe returns. Sing, Sunday, SING. Reverend Rickey Harvey of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church leads an afternoon of sacred song by some of Rochester's best gospel artists. A Fringe favorite for the whole family! No tickets required. Seating is general admission and available on a first come, first-served basis. Arrive early; this event has reached standing room only capacity every year!

  • Length: 60 Minutes
  • Tickets: Not Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Music

Les Enfants Terribles: A Gameshow for Awful Children

Voted Top 10 Kids Shows of the Edinburgh Fringe 2022 by Time Out. Winner of Best Kids Show at the UK Kids Comedy Festival 2022. The UK's favorite Frenchman, Marcel Lucont, channels his acerbic humor and quickfire wit into a family-friendly game show, pitting children against adults and each other to try and find the most awful child. Come and experience what happens when international insouciance meets infantile exuberance, as children vie to win this badge of dishonor.

  • Length: 60 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Kids Fringe

Marcel Lucont's Whine List

The multi-award-deserving deadpan Frenchman brings back his acclaimed interactive show, in which he serves up a unique Whine List from the audience's past woes and misdemeanors. A kind of group therapy experience, but one where everybody will probably leave more depressed. As seen on BBC1's "The John Bishop Show," Comedy Central's "Live At The Comedy Store," and Sky Atlantic's "Set List."

  • Length: 90 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Comedy

Shotspeare

With rave reviews from New York, Las Vegas, Adelaide Fringe, and previous Rochester Fringe engagements, Shotspeare puts the "Lit" in Literature! Five sword wielding actors, one lucky audience member, a ton of booze, the Wheel of Soliloquy, and an entire work of Shakespeare—all in 90 minutes. Equal parts bacchanal and classical theater, Shotspeare's adaptation of Othello takes the world's most beloved playwright, soaks him in beer, and flips him on his head. 21+ only.

  • Length: 90 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Comedy

Silent Disco

The glamorous Spiegeltent will be filled once again with a giant dance party. But with a twist: you don’t hear a sound until you slip on a set of headphones. Wait! Is that YMCA on one channel, Calvin Harris on the second, and David Guetta on the third? A three-channel system and live DJs let you switch up your music (and mood) at the touch of a button. Hugely popular at Coachella and Burning Man, it’s an unforgettable experience you have to see—and not hear—to believe!

  • Length: 180 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Dance

Thomas Warfield: Let the Music Heal You

Experience the restorative power of song with international performing artist and creative activist Thomas Warfield. Let the rhythm, melody, and resonance of sound guide you on a journey that is physically, emotionally, and spiritually liberating. With music ranging from Broadway to pop, gospel, and jazz, this award-winning singer and dancer excels as a consummate communicator and entertainer. Warfield “fills every word and every movement with meaning.”—"The Morning Star."

  • Length: 75 Minutes
  • Tickets: Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Music

A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves

A Young Man Dressed As A Gorilla Dressed As An Old Man Sits Rocking In A Rocking Chair For Fifty-Six Minutes And Then Leaves. One performance only. Turn up early, sellout expected. “Annual” - The Guardian “The gorilla is obviously crucial to the event” - Edinburgh Evening News “Raises serious questions about Orlando’s cultural character” - Orlando Weekly

  • Length: 56 Minutes
  • Tickets: Not Required
  • Venue: Spiegeltent: Spiegeltent
  • Genre: Comedy

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