Where: Brighton, East Sussex
£: Ticket prices vary depending on the event. Some events are free.
What is it?
Brighton Fringe is the largest mixed arts festival in England and this year it will run from 3rd May to 1st June across Brighton and Hove. There will be over 700 events at 186 different venues and spaces.
The beauty of the open access arts festival, is that you never quite know what you are going to get. The wide-ranging programme is put on by over 3,000 people, artists, artistic groups and community organisations who want to show their talents to audiences. In true Brighton Fringe spirit there will some unusual performances including Flush, taking place in The Old Market’s toilets, and Performr, an app based on Grindr that will lead audiences to Pink Fringe performances.
Ever-growing venue, The Warren, will be hosting over 70 shows this year in three performance spaces and The Marlborough Theatre will have 30 events, including their first-ever Street Party on the first Saturday of May. Comedy is also a big theme this year with over 200 shows.
Returning this year is the Spiegeltent at the Old Steine with a larger number of shows of different genres from spoken word to music. One of the Victorian-style bathing machines is returning to New Road with a new one-on-one relay play, Host, written by Tim Crouch for The Nightingale theatre. There will also be the return of Tight Modern on the seafront; a miniature replica of the iconic Tate Modern. Tight Modern is believed to be the world’s smallest temporary art gallery, housing 60 of the UK’s most talented yet disabled/marginalised artists.
Brand new for 2014 is the Family Guide with many events and shows for the whole family. The Brighton Fringe programme has over 200 child-friendly events. Highlights include John Hegley performing I am a Poetato at Komedia, Just So, a new play based on stories by Rudyard Kipling, and The Fishing Museum’s Fringe of Fun with puppet shows and treasure hunts.
Brighton Fringe is also extending its work within the community for 2014, working with youth groups, The Pebble Trust and the Tarner Community Group. Giving members the creative opportunity to be part of Brighton Fringe.
More info: www.brightonfringe.org