The first Afterglow Festival was held in 2011, but the seeds of the festival go back much farther than that. Provincetown has a long history of theatrical invention. From the Provincetown Players and the early work of Eugene O’Neil, to Tennessee Williams polishing up The Glass Menagerie from a little rented room on Commercial Street, Provincetown has always provided space for theater artists to innovate. It is this legacy that Afterglow draws its inspiration from.

Fast forward to 2010. Quinn Cox and John Cameron Mitchell have the fateful discussion about the current state of Provincetown theater that will lead to the creation of the Afterglow Festival. After noticing a dearth of challenging, exciting modern theater the festival is hatched. The first Afterglow Festival, held in 2011, is a homegrown effort. Cobbled together by close friends on a limited budget, and with the generosity of the community the first festival closes out the summer season and is an instant success.

In 2012 the festival attracts even more top-notch talent and continues to grow in popularity and clout. Expanded to six days, the festival now has more space to experiment and play. More people than ever flock to Provincetown in September to see the Afterglow Festival.

With the 2013 festival planning already well under way, Afterglow plans to continue its ambitious program of performing arts and will mix with it new programs to benefit the arts community as a whole, and help to make Provincetown a viable year-round destination for artists.