Eyes will be on the sky in the Octagon tonight when the Dunedin Fringe Festival is launched from above.
Aerial performer Rochelle Brophy and her troupe will open the 2013 festival with a silk performance suspended 9m from a crane above the Octagon chessboard.
''I'm a bit nervous about the weather, because it's hard if it's windy,'' Brophy said yesterday.
''There's a physical distance between you and the audience with aerial performance. You're still reacting with the audience, but it's completely different up there. It's nice.''
The five mysterious shipping containers which appeared in the centre of town this week will also spill their secrets.
They contain installations by the Dunedin School of Art, Blue Oyster Gallery and University of Otago design school and dance studies students.
''The dance studies work, 'Dance Box', will be on in the Octagon just after 5pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday both weeks of the fringe. They've had to be very imaginative to create a variety of new dance pieces in such a restricted space,'' festival director Paul Smith said.
''Many of the other artists will be doing cameos of their performances, so people can get a sneak preview of the shows.''
The launch will also feature live music and a night market, where artists will sell their wares. The 2013 Dunedin Fringe Festival will be launched at 8pm today in the lower Octagon.
The festival starts tomorrow and runs until March 24.
