JEFFERSON PARK — Do not be alarmed if Jefferson Park seems a bit weirder this week.
The Chicago Fringe Festival will amp up the Far Northwest Side's weirdness factor starting Wednesday at this summer's seventh-annual fiesta of avant garde and do-it-yourself performance art.
The festival will feature 47 shows and approximately 200 performances in five Jefferson Park venues through Sept. 11. Scheduled shows include a one-woman romantic comedy about a frazzled Florida Keys wedding planner and a show starring Chicago comedian Nick DiMaso.
Five acts will be part of the second year of the Kids Fringe program, designed to make the festival more family friendly, organizers said.
Those shows will include performances of "That's Weird, Grandma" by Barrel of Monkeys, which is made up of third- through fifth-grade students from Chicago Public Schools.
The complete list of performances and times, company and performance descriptions and venues are available online.
There is a $5 cover charge for the festival, and individual performances are $10. Tickets, as well as passes for multiple performances, are available on the group's website.
The festival will take place at five venues:
• Congregational Church of Jefferson Park gym, 5320 W. Giddings Ave.
• Congregational Church of Jefferson Park meeting hall, 5320 W. Giddings Ave.
• Jefferson Playhouse, Home of Windy City Music Theatre, 5340 W. Lawrence Ave
• Windy City Music Theatre Black Box Studio, 5340 W. Lawrence Ave.
• The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave.
A free preview party at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Copernicus Center, 5612 W. Lawrence Ave., will offer a sneak peek of the festival's lineup with three-minute previews by participating artists.
Costa Cafe, 4801 N. Milwaukee Ave., will serve as the festival's headquarters — Fringe Central — during its nine-day run.
Throughout the festival, free events will take place at Fringe Central, including a burlesque show from Misfit Carnivale at 9:15 p.m. Sunday as well as workshops, open mic and swing dancing nights throughout the festival.
All of the festival's venues are in the Jefferson Park Business District within walking distance of the Jefferson Park stop on the CTA Blue Line, as well as the bus lines that run along Milwaukee and Higgins avenues.
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