Biggest ever Buxton Festival Fringe!

PRESS RELEASE For immediate release - May 2017

Buxton Festival Fringe (July 5-23) is preparing for its biggest ever event with 186 entrants having signed up for its exciting 2017 event. Now in its 38th year, Buxton Festival Fringe 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 International Festival featuring opera, music and books.

The Fringe is a great success story having grown over the years. Data from last year’s Fringe demonstrated that it contributed a total of nearly £400,000 pounds to the local economy, a figure likely to rise substantially this year.

Buxton is a Spa, Festival and University town, surrounded by the hills of the Peak District in the heart of England. Buxton Fringe (the biggest UK Fringe between Edinburgh and Brighton) takes place between Wednesday July 5 and Sunday July 23 with an exciting programme comprising substantial Theatre, Comedy and Music sections as well as Dance, Film, For Families, Spoken Word, Street Theatre, Film, Visual Arts and more.

This year’s event also coincides with World Fringe Day on July 11 with Buxton Fringe planning a series of drop-in events at the historic Pump Room, which is currently being refurbished as part of the prestigious Crescent redevelopment in the town.

Entrants come from all over the UK and beyond. Music and Theatre have seen the biggest increase in numbers. Some sparkling and diverse musical attractions include Chamber Opera Chicago with a musical version of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, South African voices from Africa Entsha; award-winning harpist Alice Kirwan; New Orleans jazz pianist Dale Storr; City of Manchester Opera; Annette Gregory celebrating Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th anniversary; 100 Young Musicians from Nottingham and Germany; Finnish songs from Enkelit; and several high-profile collaborations with Buxton International Festival such as the Jay Rayner Quartet.

Theatre explodes across Buxton in a number of different venues. Underground Venues has moved to The Old Clubhouse and boasts shows including Lucky Dog’s Hats Off to Laurel and Hardy; Breathe Out Theatre’s Dark Satanic and The Ladder by the award-winning Helen Rutter. New managed venue, the Rotunda, a geodesic dome, has a wide programme ranging from South African musical Stimela “The Gumboot”, to Grist to the Mill’s Call Mr Robeson drama. Elsewhere there is Alice in Wonderland Underground in Poole’s Cavern, a one-man King Lear at the United Reformed Church and avant-garde theatre from Jeu Jeu La Foille at the Green Man Gallery, among many others.

A large comedy category includes Canadian Bobby Mair and Australian stand-up Adam Vincent, Funny Woman Award Winner Harriet Braine and award-winning Fringe favourites such as Nathan Cassidy and cop-turned-comic Alfie Moore.

In smaller categories, the true variety of the Fringe becomes clear with everything from electrifying flamenco from dotdotdot dance (this time in a performance with soprano Gillian Keith) to circus-themed acrobatics in the forest from Whispering Woods. In Visual Arts, the spectacular Buxton Art Trail is back while an eloquent Spoken Word section includes the popular Glummer Twins and psychiatric nurse Rob Gee’s Alzheimer’s Whodunnit.

Events are fully listed on the Fringe website http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk The newly designed free printed programme will be widely distributed from the beginning of June. The Fringe can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram 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 disused industrial fridge! The fun does not stop with Buxton - Chelmorton, Eyam and New Mills all have Fringe events this year.

Buxton Fringe's philosophy is that art is for all and Fringe organisers spread the word by entering a float in the Buxton Carnival and promoting a free open-air showcase of Fringe events called Fringe Sunday (this year July 9). Fringe at Five, a busking opportunity for performers; takes place at the Bandstand in Buxton's Pavilion Gardens at 5pm from July 10-22. Many other events are free, including new event the Buxton Pride Picnic and most of the Visual Arts section. All free shows are additionally listed on the website’s Fringe for Free page.

The Fringe also conducts 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 has given talks at BAFA Roadshows and will be an enthusiastic participant of World Fringe Day on July 11. It also belongs to the Derbyshire festivals organisation, Festivity.

With a great reputation for both friendliness and professionalism, the Fringe also organises reviews for its shows and the sought-after Fringe Awards.

Fringe chair Keith Savage adds: “In 2017 the world fringe movement is 70 years old – and there will be special celebrations on Tuesday 11th July. Buxton will be celebrating in style as part of what promises to be our most exciting festival yet. 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.”

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