Fringe performance

The 15th annual Orlando International Fringe Festival, an 11-day theater event in May featuring shows by actors, musicians, comedians and other performers, was the most successful to date, organizers say.

Orlando's is the oldest of all the nation's fringe festivals, which were modeled after a 1947 event in Edinburgh, Scotland, where performers staged uncensored "fringe" performances outside festival boundaries.

This year's numbers:

› 48% increase in ticket sales, with 23,457 sold overall.

› 38% increase in money raised by artists, which totaled $174,509.

› 57 groups of performers, compared with 50 in 2005.