Vancouver Fringe Festival announces departure of executive director Rohit Chokhani
The organization commits to “rethink and refresh” after a year of pandemic hurdles
Rohit Chokhani
THE VANCOUVER Fringe Festival board has announced its recently installed executive director Rohit Chokhani has left the organization.
The Fringe had faced major obstacles last year as the country went into pandemic lockdown. The fest scaled back dramatically to present a series of small, socially-distanced live performances in the fall; those were fully cancelled when health orders shut down all events in November.
Previous to that, Chokhani had been stuck visiting family in Mumbai when travel bans came into place early in the year, forced to organize much of the festival from India.
In a statement today, the board posted, “The Board appreciates Rohit’s efforts and thanks him for his contributions to the Festival. We would particularly like to acknowledge Rohit, the Fringe staff, contractors, and volunteers who brought a series of mini-Festivals to life in 2020 amidst an extraordinarily challenging time for theatre across the globe.
“As we head into the 2021 Festival season, the Pandemic and the challenges it brings are still with us.,” it continued. “The Fringe is eager and committed to continue to support artists and entertain theatre-lovers in our present reality. We are looking at ways we can safely achieve this, while keeping staff, patron, and artist safety our top priority.”
Rohit Chokhani was previously founder of Diwali in B.C. He replaced Laura Efron last April, after she oversaw two installments of the fest. Chokhani had a long history with the Fringe, starting with a role as production manager on Siddhartha: A Journey Home, then coproducing 2015’s Mrs. Singh & Me with South Asian Arts.
The Fringe festival has been undergoing a strategic organizational review for the past few years, with equity, diversity, and inclusion a mandate the group has been working aggressively toward since about 2017.
Today the board tied the departure of Chokhani into a larger shift at the event. In its post, it committed to further “rethink and refresh” the fest. In 2019, the Fringe hosted more than 700 performances around town by more than 90 artists over 11 days.
“As part of our commitment to that vision, we are examining a number of our operating pillars, including our core principles, organizational structure, and policies and procedures. We will continue to place a particular emphasis on equity, diversity and inclusion, while recognizing that there is much more work to do,” the board announced.
“Our goal is for the next Fringe to be a mix of the Fringe you know and love, and a new Fringe which fully reflects our values and the operating realities of 2021 and beyond.”
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