What is FringeNYC? It's the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues.

That works out to over 1300 performances by 4500 artists, organized by 1500 volunteers, and enjoyed by an estimated audience of 75,000.

FringeNYC 2009 shows are scheduled for between August 14-30. Performances will be from 2pm to midnight on weekdays, and noon to midnight on weekends.

And what kind of shows are we talking about? Let's just say that the usual stuff dished out by the Broadway theaters - famed not only for the shows, but also as one of the prime tourist attractions in New York - pales in comparison to the hot and trendy fare and the electric atmosphere provided by FringeNYC.

But the thing which makes FringeNYC a lot less fringe and a lot more mainstream than the name suggests are the awards.

The festival attracts a lot of high-calibre artistic talent in a bid to capture one of the awards on offer for the most outstanding play, musical, playwrighting, music & lyrics, solo show, direction, costume design, lighting design, outstanding actor, ensemble, set design and choreography.

These awards aren't meant for public consumption like the Oscars or Grammys, but mostly meant for critical acclaim by peers. Which makes them all that much more valuable.

And since there's so much at stake, the performances are of the highest calibre, the shows are extremely well put together and professional, and the whole thing becomes very, very interesting for people who come to watch the shows and hobnob with the artists.

And of course, with 75,000 people in attendance and thousands of artists, organizers and volunteers at hand, many of them from outside the City, it's a big bonanza for the New York hotels, pre-theater dinner restaurants and other artsy places where the Broadway crowd hangs out.

You can find here a full listing of the 2009 FringeNYC shows, along with details about each show, including show dates, time and locations.

FringeNYC Show photo by libookperson via flickr (creative commons).