Brighton Fringe 2014: Coming of age
Brighton Fringe 2014 saw over 250,000 attendances flock to the 740 individual events (including 214 free ones), 3,541 performances at 183 venues across the city from the intimate; bathing machine on New Road, The Old Market’s toilets and a Brighton townhouse to the more grand; The ever-expanding Warren, the big top in Preston Park and even The Pavilion itself.
50,000 people visited Fringe City, the Family Picnic in Pavilion Gardens and the new Urban ArtFest across the May and early June weekends and an estimated £1.2 million pounds were spent on just under140,000 tickets, making the average ticket price £8.68. Globally, the economic impact on the city of Brighton Fringe is estimated as being over £10 million.
Brighton Fringe ran for four weeks for the second time (3 May – 1 June), taking in two bank holiday weekends and the May half-term. To coincide with this, a dedicated Family Guide was produced which saw an increase in events suitable for children, there were 247 in total, more than double than in 2013.
The programme was as varied as ever. Tim Crouch and The Nightingale theatre presented Host in one of the Victorian bathing machines. The Brighton Spiegeltent featured a strong programme including international acts such Casus Circus and Die Roten Punkte alongside Brighton favourites Copperdollar, The Tiger Lilies and Tina C. Otherplace Productions opened another space – The Warren at St Pauls Church which took their tally up to 4 venues and 117 shows. The Marlborough scooped the prize for Best Venue at the Latest Awards for their programme of daring, exciting works, including two pieces by performance artist Rosana Cade and groundbreaking app Performr.
Comedy ruled the roost with over 200 comedians making up the comedy programme and theatre and music weren’t far behind with 167 and 108 shows respectively. The number of international companies taking part in the festival reached 46, with 18 countries being represented throughout the programme. There were 14 shows from Australia, including ‘Best Music Event’ Latest award-winners Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum, as well as ‘Star of the Festival’ Emma Sarjeant and her one woman show, Jerk.
Managing Director, Julian Caddy said: “I am very pleased to see Brighton Fringe consolidating in size, depth and breadth as a festival. Our priority is to make sure we remain an attractive proposition for artists wishing to further their careers, whether it be with funding, training or touring opportunities. The role of the venue producers is of course vital at the vanguard of that, so seeing the development of the venue network is another priority. As we improve the offer, so we will attract greater audiences, creating a virtuous circle for years to come.”
The high quality of shows at Brighton Fringe was acknowledged with 14 shows picking up Argus Angel Awards and others winning 14 of 15 Latest Festival Awards including ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Festival’ for the team behind Brighton Spiegeltent. New writing was rewarded with Duwayne (written by Gail Louw) collecting the New Writing South Award for Best New Play and Tristan Ovington receiving a brand new award for ‘Most Promising Playwright’ after judges were impressed with his show Twenty to Something. Emerging Talent Award-winners Gagglebabble were well received and their show, The Bloody Ballad left Brighton Fringe with an Argus Angel and 5* reviews.
Brighton Fringe remains a place to show off new work; this was emphasised with the introduction of WINDOW, our new arts industry showcase. 153 Arts Industry professionals were accredited at Brighton Fringe this year, seeing 158 shows; more than double the amount seen in 2013. There were 226 premieres this year, which included 4 pieces that were supported by the IdeasTap Brighton Fringe funds and three that were supported by The Pebble Trust Brighton Fringe Awards.
Some of these shows and many more from our programme go on to perform at other festivals. 146 companies who appeared at Brighton Fringe are taking part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. Companies will also be performing at Milton Keynes Fringe, Exeter Fringe, Galway Fringe, Windsor Fringe, Leicester Comedy Festival, Shambala and in Hollywood.
The Brighton Fringe team will be holding a roadshow event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, artists are invited to come along to ‘Brighton Fringe: Bring it on!’ (3pm, 15 August, Fringe Central, Edinburgh) to find out more about taking part in England’s largest arts festival.
Photo: Z-Star at Fringe City by Dade Freeman.
