The Brisbane Fringe Festival is approaching, and the third instalment is kicking off in August this year.
The adjusted dates coupled with an interesting line-up of 'Fringe Heads' to assist, means there's never been a better time to explore the arts industries. Founding Director Stewart Barry initiated the festival in 2012 after he was less than pleased with the annual Brisbane Festival. “It was basically a reaction to the disappointment in the program of the Brisbane Festival. In the Brisbane arts community, there's lots of people doing amazing work and amazing shows however, the curation aspect of festival meant they couldn't run the show how they wanted to. So we really needed a Fringe Festival where we could put on the shows that we wanted to.”
The date changes are part of the process that the Festival is going through to really find its place. Still being a relatively new event, they are finding a time in the calendar where the event can settle down for a more permanent stay (which will most likely avoid Brisbane's hectic September). “The first year we ran it the same time as the Brisbane Festival. Last year we overlapped to see how it went. This year we're looking at the end of August, because there's so much going on in September so we thought to pre-empt it. We're just moving it around to see where it fits and to align it with the other national fringe festivals.”
This year also sees the introduction of the Fringe Heads, a hardworking group of volunteers that run the festival on their own free time, and offer valuable advice to industry professionals and budding artists alike. “Ideally, we're looking to the future for a mentoring program for new artists to work with various established artists in their chosen field. It's all very friendly, so any kind of consultation is available. It's luck basically — whoever is available to be able to talk and who has the time. Some of our Heads will be curating shows or venues, so this will make an easy space for artists to interact with these people and perform their shows under that guidance.”
And who is encouraged to apply for the Fringe Fest? “Absolutely everybody. That's the idea of the Fringe Festival. It's an open platform for anyone to put on any kind of show that they can dream of. It's great for established artists to try new work or present something they haven't performed in this town before. It's also good for new and emerging artists to put on a first show or get their smaller show to a broader audience.”
The Brisbane Fringe Festival runs from August 13 to 31 at a number of venues, depending on the production. Artist registration is open from May 15-29.
