If you’re getting settled in Edmonton, you need to get acquainted with the city’s biggest cultural event.

It’s the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival — aka “The Fringe” — an annual theatre extravaganza that typically draws more than half a million visitors.

Billing itself as a “celebration of non-juried, uncensored, experimental and classic live theatre,” the 2009 Fringe Festival opens this week, running from August 13 through 23. This year’s event features more than 1,200 performances in 29 venues in and around Edmonton’s Old Strathona neighborhood, near the University of Alberta.

Inspired by the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, Edmonton’s Fringe launched in 1982 and has since grown to become the world’s second largest fringe theatre festival.

Want to know what’s going on? Check the schedule of Fringe Festival events online or call the Information Hotline at 780-448-9000. You can buy tickets online or call the Ticket Hotline at 780-409-1910.

If you’ve never attended Edmonton’s Fringe Festival before, sign up for a free “First-Time Fringer” session to learn all about the festival (or as the organizers say, “lose your Fringe virginity“). Or check out the informative Fringe FAQ.

ShowYouYours.com has information about getting to Edmonton, getting around the city, and finding a place to stay, and Edmonton Tourism has details about other things to do around town.

Enjoy!