Vancouver Fringe Festival announces Duncan Watts-Grant as new executive director

He has long association with the theatre fest, and has worked at VSO and Langara College

By Janet Smith

THE VANCOUVER FRINGE FESTIVAL is ushering in a new leader.

Today it announced it had appointed Duncan Watts-Grant as its executive director, replacing outgoing executive director Cory Philley, who had joined the organization in January 2022.

Watts-Grant has been a long-time supporter of Vancouver Fringe as a stage manager, patron, and volunteer. Born and raised here, he has his Bachelor of Music from UBC, and worked for both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and VSO School of Music, in community engagement, special events, and artistic operations. Amid his work at the VSO, Duncan supported Connecting Cultures, Connecting People, whose project included launching the VSO Indigenous Council. He also ran arts programming at Langara College.

Watts-Grant has served on the Fringe Board since 2021 and has resigned from the board to step into the position of executive director, a position he officially starts March 8.

The Vancouver Fringe makes its return in 2023 from September 7 to 17, at venues in and around Granville Island. Philley oversaw a lottery party to choose acts for this year’s event earlier this month, with the 84 artists who will be appearing listed here.

Watts-Grant steps into his new role after much turnover in the leadership of the nearly-four-decade-old Vancouver festival. Philley had replaced interim leader Sylvia Ceacero, who stepped in when Rohit Chokhani left his position as executive director in April 2021. The founder of Diwali in B.C. had overseen a pivot to a series of scaled-back mini-festivals in Fall 2020, during the pandemic. He, in turn, had replaced Laura Efron in April 2020, after she oversaw two installments of the fest.

“We are excited to welcome Duncan as the Executive Director of the Fringe,” said Leslie Carty, president of the Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society Board, in today's announcement. “Along with years of experience in the arts, Duncan brings a human-centered approach that puts people and community first.” Carty also thanked Philley for her work rebuilding the Fringe in the wake of the pandemic.  

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