Fringe Vendors- the highlights

Every year on The Green, amongst the white plastic Wal Mart lawn furniture covered in taped-on, rained-on postcards, people rave about the soul food vendor (wow, chicken and salt- brilliant), complain about the loud music played by the hot dog vendor (bad pop music), and endure the free samples from the popcorn vendor (in classless uncreative tiny paper cups).

This year, all those fabulous treasured vendors that seem to pour out of the woodwork from nowhere (cuz we never see them anywhere but Fringe) will be back, along with a few oddballs I've highlighted below.

Be aware for you Fringe newbies, that there are a ton of food options this year and you are sure to find some semblance of what you enjoy eating. Eat at The Green, support the locals and do not get in your car, drive to the 7-11 a couple blocks away on Mills and eat a $4 sammich like I do every year. And if you want to vend yourself (you can sell food or non-food) send an email to Jae Nale *immediately* at jae1432@aol.com. Wed. May 13th is the FINAL Day to sign up.

Loving Hut- Their offering of vegan food will please most, but their cult-like behavior will repulse all. If they have a tv playing their happy-world videos, a cameraman filming interviews for some unknown reason and plain brown unmarked envelopes like they did at 1st Thursday last week, you'll know its them.

Fringe Poetry Vending Machine- Amazing! Support! Don't miss! Real-live poets write a poem for you for $5. So cool. And they have their own Poetry Smackdown show on the outdoor stage.

Starbucks- Um, amazing. Don't care that they're not local. Just glad they're supporting the Fringe with their presence. And as far as I am aware, there has been no local coffee vendor at the fringe, ever.

Sunshine Massage- This better be the dirty kind. Its Fringe. But then again, its Orlando Fringe. So, expect shoulder rubs and friendly smiles. Boo.

Wanzie Presents/Parliament House Tent- Oh dear. What kind of mayhem will be held under this tent? With hard liquor now available for sale at the festival for the first time EVER, who knows?

DeweyTeeVee.com tent- He went from Fringe star to Fringe devil to Disney ticket salesman to (local) youtube celeb. He has some deal with the Fringe (maybe in exchange for a Superpass? Aka free admission to every single show) where he will "cover" the Fringe in his own hilarious style. At this tent anyways, he will be conducting interviews with patrons "for social network promotion" that I assume end up on his Youtube account.

More on the 2009 Orlando Fringe :

***Our Fringe Guide***
Beth Marshall on WPRK- The Daily City 5-13-09
Visual Fringe preview- The Daily City 5-12-09
Who to follow on Twitter- The Daily City 5-11-09
Orlando Fringe poster- The Daily City 5-9-09
Visual Fringe Drop-Off- The Daily City 5-8-09
Drama at the Fringe? Tweet it!- The Daily City 5-6-09
Orlando Fringe reminders- The Daily City 4-26-09
Indie media covers Fringe- The Daily City 4-15-09
Volunteering Gets You Free Fringe Shows- The Daily City 4-9-09
Orlando Fringe PR ideas for Artists- The Daily City 4-9-09
The Executives: Target vs Wal Mart- The Daily City 4-1-09
Blogging Fringe hearts The Daily City- The Daily City 3-31-09
Visual Fringe Applications- The Daily City 3-31-09
Varietease Fundraiser- The Daily City 3-30-09
Tips from DeweyTeeVee- The Daily City 3-29-09
Silent Rave at Fringe this year?- The Daily City 3-18-09