Founder of Philly’s Fringe Festival, Nick Stuccio, is stepping down after 27 Years

Nick Stuccio, the president and founder of Philly’s annual Fringe Festival, will resign from his position in April, after 27 years at the helm of FringeArts. Stuccio, who said he is “truly excited to pass the torch,” plans to work as an arts and culture consultant around the country and also develop nonprofit real estate projects, the organization said in a statement.

A former Pennsylvania Ballet dancer, Stuccio was inspired to found Philly’s Fringe in 1997 after visiting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“We didn’t know jack in ‘97 — it was all pure naivete,” Stuccio told The Inquirer in 2011. Over time the festival grew from a five-day event to a four-week bonanza featuring about 1,000 independent performances and bringing in half a million in ticket sales, the organization said.

The theater, music, dance, and performance art at Fringe “transcended conventional norms,” as FringeArts Board Chair Mark Dichter put it. Artists have performed avant-garde shows in a Market-Frankford El car, in the front seat of a Cadillac (with four audience members squeezed into the back), and on the deck of a 75-foot schooner docked at Penn’s Landing. Former Gov. Ed Rendell has frequently said the Fringe Festival helped revitalize Center City and make Philly cool.

Describing how he curated the festival lineup, Stuccio explained to The Inquirer in 2014: “We like innovation and experimentation. Also … ‘what can Philadelphia tolerate?’”

In 2013, under Stuccio’s watch, after years of nomadic performances, FringeArts moved into its current building in Old City, transforming a historic pumping station filled with tanks and electrical equipment into an arts center with a theater for 300 people, a restaurant, and a beer garden.

This year’s festival ticket sales were up 22% over last year, the organization said, with 912 performances overall. FringeArts said it will begin a national search for a new director in the coming months.