The Minnesota Fringe Festival was founded in 1991 by Bob McFadden as a way to showcase very experimental and wild productions. It was very amateurish until Dean Seal took over in 1995. In the following 25 years, it has grown and become a reputable festival that is respected in the world of theatre. The goal is to encourage artists to disrupt the norms and to be bold in their imaginations and visions. It is now the largest fringe festival in the Midwest, and every year, there are performances by over a thousand artists across several stages.