Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival is an international performing arts festival organized by the Home for Cooperation, an inter-communal community center located in buffer zone, Nicosia. The festival takes place in the last divided capital of the world - Nicosia. Taking place in a divided country, the Buffer Fringe Festival assumes more responsibilities than an arts festival taking place elsewhere. It is one of a kind in Cyprus and the world.

The festival was developed by the Home for Cooperation team in 2014, with the idea of providing a platform to question sensitive topics, expressing ideas in new and creative ways. This will enable people to engage with one another regardless of the dominant historical narratives, ideologies or identities which are very much politicized and often divisive for the peoples of Cyprus.

The performing arts festival has proven to be the best tool to trigger discussions about personal or collectivistic traumas that the people of Cyprus have experienced in the past and to promote understanding, respect and finally trust in one another. Buffer Fringe Festival, which was born out of a unique local situation, has established itself as a highly respected international festival, showcasing new and experimental work by local and international artists, challenging physical and artistic barriers, and creating opportunities for artists to meet and exchange ideas. It questions preconceived ideas of the performing arts, the relationship between artists and audience and shines a new light on arts and society. The festival favors innovative work, artists who take risks in their work and constantly look for new ways to express themselves.

Performing arts field in Cyprus is widely considered to be underdeveloped. Educational and funding opportunities are quite limited and artists who would like to experiment more and expose their work to more people across Cyprus or abroad, face challenges in realizing their ideals. Buffer Fringe, not only provides a stage for performance artists but it also creates learning and artist development opportunities, networking events, residencies and many more to support especially local artists, and their creative expression.

The festival grew exponentially in only 5 years and has stepped out of the buffer zone and into venues across the divide in Nicosia and beyond into other cities in Cyprus. Buffer Fringe has expanded from a single main stage to investing in the development of talent with workshops, seminars and exchange sessions; it has received international recognition with the EFFE label and is one of the laureates of the EFFE award in 2017-2018.  

The audiences have the opportunity to partake in all shows for free, thus making sure it is accessible to all irrespectively and increasing the chances for a more traditional audience to learn about avant-garde work and to engage in peacebuilding through the arts.

We need your support to be able to continue our most effective peace-building programme – Buffer Fringe Festival.

Our goal is to raise €20,000  that will be invested into:

-          Production: €7,000

-          Artist Support:  €9,000

-          Artist Development Opportunities: €4,000

Production refers to technical assistance, venue set-up, props related to the production of the festival.

Artist development opportunities refers to the seminars, workshops, residencies and exchange opportunities designed for the participating artists.

You can be part of this unique festival and contribute to peace in Cyprus with just as little as 5€!

 Donation packages:

• Friend: 5€-20€
• Supporter: 21€-100€ - your name is included at the end of the programme
• Sponsor: 101-1000€ - your name is included at the end of the programme, you receive a limited edition gift from Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival and you reserve your seat at the festival.
• Special Sponsor: 1001€+ your name is included at the end of the programme, you receive a unique gift from Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival, you reserve your seat at the festival, you are mentioned in the communication activities and if you are representing an organization your logo is included in the promotional materials.