Primarily held in venues in Winnipeg's historic Exchange District, it currently ranks as the second-largest independent fringe theatre festivals in North America.

For example, the 2005 festival featured performers from France, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa as well as across Canada and the United States.

(However, the Edmonton Fringe festival currently holds the North American record with 104,142 tickets sold in 2011.)

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre cancelled that year's Winnipeg Fringe Festival as a safety precaution.

[11] The online festival featured local, national, and international programming including performances from Mike Delamont, Frances Koncan, the Coldhearts, Outside Joke, and Anjali Sandhu.

[2] In 2023, the Fringe introduced a pay-what-you-can model for the five shows presented at the Kids Venue at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People in "an effort to make the festival more affordable for families."

In 2010, the theme was The Big Top, referring to circuses, with a giant, helium-filled balloon floating above Old Market Square.