PRESS RELEASE For immediate release - Jan 2016
Last year Buxton Festival Fringe celebrated its biggest ever event with 174 entries adding up to nearly 600 individual performances while performer and audience expenditure helped bring nearly half a million pounds to the local economy.
Now in its 37th year, Buxton Festival Fringe is open for entries and is building up its 2016 programme with events being listed on the Fringe website as they come in. Highlights to date include the award-winning New Orleans pianist Dale Storr, the acclaimed Sovereign Saxophone Octet, High Peak Orchestra, Basin Street Jazz and Blues, Herding Catz Blues Band, trombonist Sam Slide and crowd-pleasing events such as High Peak Magic Society’s evening of close-up magic, Burbage Art Group’s free annual exhibition of artworks and Fringe Sunday at the Pavilion Gardens featuring a free showcase of Fringe performers. Fringe at Five (July 11-23) also provides a busking opportunity for performers at the Bandstand in the Gardens.
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.
Buxton is a 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 2016 Fringe takes place between July 6 and 24 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 Africa and 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 (@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 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 or 01298 79351
Chair, Keith Savage: Send message to Info or 01298 70705 or 07952 193 521