NEWSLETTER
Stand-up tour coming to Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Friday, September 25
Tickets on sale now at rochesterfringe.com
Rochester, NY. (JUNE 12, 2026) –The Rochester Fringe Board of Directors are thrilled to announce Pete Davidson as the 2026 ESL Rochester Fringe Festival Comedy Headliner. The headlining event will occur on Friday, September 25 at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre (26 Gibbs Street).
Tickets are on sale now at rochesterfringe.com (or by phone at 585-957-9837).
Audience members must be aged 18 and over.
ABOUT PETE DAVIDSON:
Pete Davidson is a celebrated stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer. Davidson can be seen weekly on the unfiltered video podcast The Pete Davidson Show on Netflix. He will next be seen in How to Rob a Bank, directed by David Leitch for Amazon MGM Studios and set to be released in September 2026. Davidson is also the creator, executive producer, writer, and star of Bupkis, the critically acclaimed comedy series on Peacock inspired by his own life.
From 2014 to 2022, Davidson was a cast member on Saturday Night Live, becoming one of the youngest performers in the show’s history. His signature “Weekend Update” segments and original music videos earned widespread attention and viral success. He has released multiple comedy specials, including Turbo Fonzarelli (2023) and Pete Davidson: Alive From New York (2020), both on Netflix, following his Comedy Central debut in 2016. He was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and included in Time’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2022.
In 2020, Davidson co-wrote, executive produced and starred in the critically acclaimed film The King of Staten Island. Additional film credits include Dumb Money, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Trainwreck, The Suicide Squad, Big Time Adolescence, Set It Up, Meet Cute, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Dog Man, and Riff Raff. This past summer, Davidson starred opposite Eddie Murphy and Keke Palmer in Amazon MGM’s The Pickup, which premiered in August. He will next film Killing Satoshi, directed by Doug Liman.
This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of phones, smart watches and accessories, will not be permitted in the performance space. Upon arrival at the venue, all phones, smart watches and accessories will be secured in individual Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their devices at all times, and can access them throughout the event only in designated Phone Use Areas within the venue. All devices will be re-secured in Yondr pouches before returning to the performance space. Anyone seen using a device (phone, smart watch or accessories) during the performance will be escorted out of the venue.
A major comedian fills the coveted comedy headliner spot every year to deliver major laughs to a lively, sold-out audience at Rochester Fringe. Prior Fringe comedy headliners have included John Mulaney, Chelsea Handler, Eddie Izzard, Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron, Tig Notaro and Colin Jost.
The full 2026 Fringe lineup will be announced at the annual Big Reveal press conference on Tuesday, July 14 at 11:00 a.m. at George Eastman Museum’s Dryden Theatre. While tickets for Pete Davidson are on sale today, all tickets for the rest of the festival will go on sale July 14 at 12 noon at rochesterfringe.com.
The Fringe has become New York State's largest multidisciplinary performing arts festival. There have been more than 7,000 performances and events at Fringe since its inception in 2012. The Fringe is lauded by the New York Times as “one of the country’s more prominent multidisciplinary performing arts festivals.” The multi-genre arts festival includes Children’s, Comedy, Dance, Multidisciplinary, Music, Spoken Word, Theatre, and Visual Arts & Film.
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ABOUT THE ESL ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL:
The 12-day ESL Rochester Fringe Festival is one of the nation’s largest fringe festivals and has been recognized by the New York Times as “one of the country’s more prominent multidisciplinary events.” It is also New York State’s largest performing arts festival and the current winner, three years running, of CITY Magazine’s Best of Rochester Award for Best Arts Event. This year, the Fringe celebrates its 15th season. Nearly a million people have attended more than 7,000 performances and events at the Fringe since its inception in 2012. The non-profit organization’s mission is to offer platforms for artists, new audiences for venues, and unparalleled public access to incredible art. It strives to be diverse and inclusive, as well as to stimulate downtown Rochester culturally and economically. The Fringe showcases the work of regional, national, and international artists from emerging to superstar. Audiences at Fringe also have the rare opportunity to attend a performance at the Spiegeltent, which is one of the most unique performing arts venues in the world.
ABOUT ESL:
With more than 100 years of locally owned history, ESL Federal Credit Union serves as a full-service financial institution to more than 465,000 members and 18,700 businesses. Founded in 1920, the company provides personal banking, business banking, mortgage services and wealth management services through its locally based 33-branch network; telephone, mobile and online banking; and live chat center. The Rochester-based financial institution employs more than 1,000 people in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region and holds more than $10.6 billion in assets. Since 1996, ESL has paid out 30 consecutive years of Owners’ Dividends to its members totaling more than $350 million. Since the creation of its Community Impact initiative in 2018, ESL has reinvested more than $173 million in grants throughout the community. The company has appeared on Great Place to Work® lists since 2010. ESL Federal Credit Union is headquartered at 225 Chestnut Street, in Rochester, and can be found online at www.esl.org.
ESL ROCHESTER FRINGE SPONSORS:
ESL; Rochester Area Community Foundation; New York State Council on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; Ames Amzalak Memorial Trust; Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation; 7Crest Financial Partners; Dr. Dawn F. Lipson; Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation; City of Rochester; Monroe County; University of Rochester; RIT; Mary Mulligan Trust; Elaine P. and Richard U. Wilson Foundation; Louis S. and Molly B. Wolk Foundation; Konar Enterprises; Golisano Foundation; The Rubens Family Foundation; Lake Beverage; The Inn on Broadway; Hyatt Regency Rochester; Nazareth University; St. John Fisher University; Monroe Community College; WXXI, D&C Digital; 13 WHAM; The Pike Company; Hamilton A/V; Wilkins RV; McCarthy Tents & Events; Broccolo Tree & Lawn Care; Liccardi Radio Services; Finger Lakes Distilling; Aspire Transformation Services; Visit Rochester; The Spindler Family Foundation; The Harley School; Wegmans; City Blue Imaging; Canandaigua National Bank; Yelp!; AdHouse Productions; Walk Up Advertising; Mary Cariola Center; Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC; and House of Guitars.
ABOUT FRINGE FESTIVALS:
In 1947, eight theatre groups showed up - uninvited - to perform at the newly established Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. Although not listed in the official program, the groups performed anyway, at venues they found for themselves. The following year, a Scottish journalist coined the term “festival fringe” to describe these non-curated shows that began turning up annually. The Edinburgh Fringe is now the world’s largest arts festival and the third largest event after the Olympics and the World Cup. Today, there are more than 250 Fringe Festivals worldwide, with nearly 50 in the United States. The ESL Rochester Fringe Festival was the first in Upstate New York.
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