Brighton Festival Fringe

Brighton Fringe
Performers at Fringe City
Status	Active
Genre	Festival
Location(s)	Brighton
Country	England
Website
www.brightonfringe.org

Brighton Fringe is an open-access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England. Brighton Fringe 2017 will take place from 5 May - 4 June 2017. Registration for the 2017 festival will open on 10 October 2016.

Brighton Fringe runs at a similar time to Brighton Festival, and in 2013 extended its run to four weeks. In 2016, Brighton Fringe ran from 6 May - 5 June, and featured 932 individual events – including more than 200 free ones – at 170 locations across the city, with attendances reaching over 500,000.

One of the event’s main objectives is to promote local talent and the arts. It also offers performers an opportunity for their event to be reviewed or picked up by promoters, as well as going on to Edinburgh. In 2011 Brighton Fringe launched the Professional Development Programme, aimed at offering workshops to aspiring performers wanting to progress in the business. In 2012, Brighton Fringe opened its own on-street box office, which provided a physical base for the arts event, selling tickets as well as being a hub for promoters and performers. They also launched "Brighton in the Square", a showcase of Brighton Fringe performers at the Leicester Square Theatre in London.

As part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Brighton Fringe introduced the Dip Your Toe project in 2012, which featured performances in six custom-built Victorian bathing machines, which were located throughout Brighton and Hove during the month of May. In 2014, the organisation launched an Arts Council England supported scheme called "Window" which showcases productions suitable for touring.

Fringe activity has run alongside Brighton Festival since its creation in 1967.

The Fringe established itself as a limited company and registered charity in October 2006, with its own board of directors and complete financial independence from the Festival. In 2012 it rebranded itself as Brighton Fringe. The organisation has more than doubled in size in the past five years, increasing from 323 shows in 2007 to 719 in 2012, bringing visitors into the city and boosting tourism and local businesses.

The current Managing Director is Julian Caddy.

Brighton Fringe is an open-access mixed arts event, which means it does not book performers, but is approached by people wishing to put events on and be part of the Fringe. Participants can vary from the complete beginner to the hardened professional show, and everything in between. Anyone can put an event on as part of Brighton Fringe.