PRESS RELEASE For immediate release - Jan 2020
Now in its 41st year and one of the largest Fringes in the country, Buxton Festival Fringe (July 1-19) is open for entries and is building up its exciting 2020 programme. Last year’s biggest ever Buxton Fringe, celebrating the Fringe’s 40th year, featured 220 entries and contributed nearly £350,000 to the local economy with the number of tickets sold up 43% on the year before.
The town is poised for major regeneration with the redeveloped Grade 1 listed Crescent due to open as a 5-star spa hotel in 2020, helping to cement Buxton’s reputation as 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 2020 Fringe will feature Theatre, Comedy and Music categories as well as Fringe & Community, Dance, Film, Children’s Events, Spoken Word, Street Theatre, Film and Visual Arts. Entrants generally come from all over the UK and the world with established stars joining a host of up-and-coming young performers on route for Edinburgh. Prices vary with some events being free (see Fringe For Free on the website).
Early highlights to date include Stone and Water’s treasure-themed children’s event in the park, Andy Quirk and Anna J’s drag-infused musical comedy, popular jazz singer Annette Gregory, Ordsall A Cappella Singers, Cheshire Chamber Collective, Barbershop singers Harmony Revival, two shows from Little Pixie including one about Nightingale of the South Bank, Florence Easton, a fifth and final outing from trombonist Sam Slide, Breathe Out Theatre’s Sylvia Pankhurst drama, Sylvia Vs The Fascists, an Alan Bennett favourite from Library Theatre Touring Company, and a purely online drama, Alice Goes Elsewhere from Buxton Drama League. A new Fringe & Community category will include popular Fringe events such as Fringe @ 5 and Fringe Sunday as well as town initiatives such as the shopping centre’s Book Swap. Many more events from all over the country and beyond are expected before the April 19 closing date for entries.
Underground Venues, an award-winning venue group with over 10 years’ experience running venues on the Buxton Fringe, will again be installed at The Old Clubhouse, next to Buxton Opera House, as well as the Arts Centre Studio. 2020’s Fringe also boasts at least two other managed venues - the Rotunda, which made its debut in 2017, and the ever-expanding Green Man Gallery hosting visual arts, music, theatre and more.
Over the years, the Fringe, a registered charity run almost entirely by volunteers, has gained a reputation as one of Britain's friendliest arts festivals in a beautiful town that is also home to the prestigious Buxton International Festival featuring opera, music and literary speakers during July.
Events are fully listed on the Fringe website http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk and on the Fringe App as they come in, the programme building up from the moment entries open in December the year before. The free printed programme will be widely distributed from the beginning of June and a flyer produced by February. 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. For 2020 there will be a special focus on both accessibility and environmental sustainability.
A BAFA (British Arts Festivals Association) member, the Fringe regularly attends BAFA roadshows and maintains healthy links with World Fringe as well as local organisations Vision Buxton and Festivity, representing festivals across Derbyshire.
Fringe chair Stephen Walker says: “After the success of our 40th year, Buxton Fringe enters a new decade ready to embrace new ideas and old friends alike, determined to build on our reputation as the friendly fringe, renowned for its supportive atmosphere and engaged audiences.”
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. High Peak Borough Council and 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:
Marketing Officer, Stephanie Billen: Send message to Press
Chair, Stephen Walker: Send message to Info
