Honolulu arts organizations are banding together to present a one-night "fringe festival" launch party tomorrow, giving performance artists a chance to strut their stuff and introducing local audiences to the alternative arts festival planned for next year.

The Oahu Fringe Festival, a partnership between Tim Bostock Productions, The ARTS at Marks Garage, The Culture and Arts District and Projexart, is sponsoring a night of "cabaret, live theater, comedy, dance, music, slam poetry, improv and more" at The Venue downtown.

Expect a wide range of entertainment, from performance art and burlesque to improv comedy, dance, folk, electronic and rock music, with a lineup that includes Convergence Dance Theater, Capoeira Besouro Hawaii, Samadhi Hawaii, Red Rockets, Monkey Waterfall, Robert Reed, Jeff Gere, James McCarthy, Eva Bosch, Brian Shaughnessy, Todd Oumi, Mary Babcock, Uvovu + Yeda, Ronald Giliam, Erica Loveland, Jason Tom, James Mane, Larry Mane and Mike C. Hall. The Cherry Blossom Cabaret and the Laughtrack Theatre also will perform and then continue their shows at their home venues.

"Fringe offers a platform to explore new works that an artist may have been wanting to try out," said Misa Tupou, coordinator of the festival. "It is geared towards artists willing to have a go and go out of their comfort zone."

Audience members can "expect the unexpected," Tupou said.

Fringe festivals have become popular in many major U.S. and European cities as a way to spotlight performers in arts out of the mainstream. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, now decades old and a major international tourist attraction is a model.

Organizers describe fringe festivals as "a variety show to the extreme, with a carnival-like atmosphere mixed and a dash of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’"