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Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

The Rochester Fringe Festival returns

By Evan Dawson,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published September 1, 2026 at 2:14 PM EDT
Five people sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has a dark beard and is wearing a purple baseball cap, black sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes; a man front right has a dark beard and is wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans and black sneakers; a man back left has dark braids and is wearing a black t-shirt with a bright blue picture on the front; a woman back right has long blonde hair and is wearing a denim jacket over a light blue shirt; a balding man at center is wearing headphones, eyeglasses, a white button-down shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.
1 of 6  — (foreground) Dre Gray and Drew Jemison, (background) Mike Gamble and Erica Fee with host Evan Dawson on "Connections"
(foreground) Dre Gray and Drew Jemison, (background) Mike Gamble and Erica Fee with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, September 1, 2026
David Griffin / WXXI News
Two people sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a woman at left is wearing a black hat, a black t-shirt with white lettering and has her arm around the man next to her; a man at right has a grey beard and is wearing a black cowboy hat, eyeglasses, headphones around his neck, a grey sleeveless t-shirt, a long gold necklace and a black holster.
2 of 6  — Lu Highsmith and Jimmie Highsmith Jr. on "Connections"
Lu Highsmith and Jimmie Highsmith Jr. on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Julie Williams / WXXI News
A woman with long red hair sits with her chin propped on her hand.
3 of 6  — Tracey Yarad
Tracey Yarad
Provided
Three people sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has short dark hair, a dark mustache and is wearing a blue turtleneck, brown pants and brown shoes, and is holding a viola; a balding man front right is wearing eyeglasses, blue jeans and sneakers; a woman in back has long blonde hair and is wearing a denim jacket.
4 of 6  — (foreground) Sean Mulligan, (background) Erica Fee with host Evan Dawson on "Connections"
(foreground) Sean Mulligan, (background) Erica Fee with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, September 1, 2026
David Griffin / WXXI News
A woman stands in front of a wall wearing a green and white floral t-shirt.
5 of 6  — Kristy Liddell
Kristy Liddell
Julie Williams / WXXI News
A black and white photo of a man with dark hair who is wearing a dark shirt and eyeglasses.
6 of 6  — Joe Liss.png
Joe Liss
Provided
WXXI News

The Rochester Fringe Festival kicks off in just over two weeks. This year's event includes more than 700 performances, including everything from theater and comedy to music and dance.

In our annual Fringe preview, we talk to the festival's executive producer and some of the artists involved about what's coming up and what they think you won't want to miss.

Our guests:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams