Buxton Fringe Set for Summer of Fun

PRESS RELEASE For immediate release - Jan 2017

Now in its 38th year and one of the largest Fringes in the country, Buxton Festival Fringe is open for entries and is building up its exciting 2017 programme. Last year’s enjoyable arts event featured 152 entries and contributed nearly £400,000 to the local economy.

Events are listed on the Fringe website as they come in. Highlights to date include New Orleans-style jazz from Mart Rodger, raucous comedy from Keith Large, harmony singing and cake from Orsdall A Cappella Singers, a bumper show from Burbage Art Group, Sovereign Saxophone Octet, and music for mixed strings and winds from Fringe Award-winning Cheshire Chamber Collective. There is also a live recording of the UK’s most popular daily history podcast from Scott Allsop and a special collaboration featuring Folktronica artist Richard Navarro and a 40-piece choir of local voices. Meanwhile burlesque mavericks Jeu Jeu La Foille will be offering visual storytelling and poetry against a Tom Waits-inspired soundtrack. Familiar Fringe-organised events include Fringe Sunday at the Pavilion Gardens boasting a free showcase of Fringe performers (July 9) and Fringe at Five (July 10-22) providing a busking opportunity for performers at the Bandstand in the Gardens. Many more events are in the pipeline before the closing date for entries of April 16.

Excitingly, Underground Venues, an award-winning venue group with over 10 years’ experience running venues on the Buxton Fringe, has also announced that it will be managing performances at The Old Clubhouse, next to Buxton Opera House, as well as the Arts Centre Studio. The eagerly-awaited redevelopment of Buxton’s Grade-I listed Crescent has meant that Underground’s former home, the basement rooms of The Old Hall Hotel, is no longer available.

Over the years, the Fringe, a registered charity run almost entirely by volunteers, has gained a reputation as one of Britain's friendliest festivals in a beautiful town that was runner up in 2014’s UK Great Town Awards and is also home to the prestigious Buxton Festival featuring opera, music and literary speakers. The town’s impressive Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre was last year awarded as the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre.

Buxton is a leading Spa, Festival and University town, surrounded by the hills of the Peak District in the heart of England. The Fringe is an integral part of the town's cultural reputation and is the biggest UK Fringe between Edinburgh and Brighton.

The 2017 Fringe takes place between July 5 and 23 and will feature Theatre, Comedy and Music sections as well as Dance, Film, For Families, Spoken Word, Street Theatre, Film and Visual Arts. Entrants generally come from all over the UK and from as far a-field as Japan with established stars joining a host of up-and-coming young performers on route for Edinburgh. Prices vary with some events being free.

Events are fully listed on the Fringe website http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk The free printed programme will be widely distributed from the beginning of June. The Fringe can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (@BuxtonFringe) and via its blog, accessible from the Fringe website.

A completely open-access festival, the Fringe does not undertake any selection or censorship, and provides a showcase for performers and artists of all kinds in a variety of venues, from a state of the art auditorium to a secondhand bookshop and a local cave. The Fringe also organises reviews for its shows and the sought-after Fringe Awards.

Buxton Fringe's philosophy is that art is for all and Fringe organisers spread the word using effective marketing, by entering a float in the Buxton Carnival and through a range of community initiatives such as providing work experience for local students and encouraging entrants to perform in schools, care homes and youth organisations.

A BAFA member, the Fringe took part in discussions at BAFA’s Roadshow in Hull in 2016, gave a talk on Cultural Tourism at BAFA’s 2015 Roadshow in Litchfield and provided an Awards workshop at the 2014 World Fringe Congress in Edinburgh.

Fringe chair Keith Savage says: "We do our best to make the Buxton Fringe affordable for performers and audiences - we want it to be a Festival that is inclusive and allows people to see, hear and share new experiences. There is tremendous loyalty to the Fringe with some artists returning year-after-year, building an audience that relishes and enjoys music, art and theatre in an intimate and friendly atmosphere. Buxton is a Festival town and is geared-up to welcoming visitors; the Fringe is happy to be a part of that and we hope our orange-coloured branding expresses the warmth and vitality we hope to bring every July.”

He adds: "The Fringe is pleased to have the support and sponsorship of local organisations. We work closely with the University of Derby - our long-standing sponsors - so that we can share and learn together. High Peak Borough Council and its staff at the Pavilion Gardens have also been brilliant in supporting us as has the Trevor Osborne Charitable Trust."

NOTE TO PRESS:

For further information, press releases and pictures please contact:

Press Officer, Amy Simcox: Send message to Press or 07772 854 292

Marketing Officer, Stephanie Billen: Send message to Marketing

Chair, Keith Savage: Send message to Info or 01298 70705 or 07952 193 521