Malvern Fringe Festival

Malvern Fringe Festival
Malvern Fringe Festival
Type non-profit
Industry Fringe theatre
Founded 1977
Headquarters Great Malvern, England
Key people Phil Linnell, Chairman
Products Spring Festival,
Live music,
Cabaret,
Poetry,
Comedy
Revenue non-profit
Employees Voluntary
Website www.malvernfringe.co.uk/

The Malvern Fringe Festival is an arts festival (founded 1977) which takes place in Great Malvern, England. The main events of the Malvern Fringe Festival are the MayDay and the annual three day festival held in June as a fringe to the Elgar Festival. These are accompanied by musical and other live events throughout the year.

Contents

History

Malvern Fringe Parade

Malvern Fringe Festival was founded in 1977 by Adrian Mealing, a teacher in Malvern, in collaboration with Andrew Sleigh, Ian Fearnside and Phil Webb. It originated as a reaction to the Malvern Festival which was perceived to be biased towards classical music and appealing towards a national and international audience rather than a local one. A further concern was the continued requirement for the local Council to underwrite the main festival and the feeling that the public expenditure could be more wisely spent.[1][2]

The founding aims of the Fringe were to produce a popular, varied programme of events for the local people of Malvern, to bridge the gap between the "us" and "them" in the arts and to "shake it up a bit in Malvern".

The first year featured 60 events consisting of poetry, world music, folk, jazz, adult and children's theatre performed under the banner of "Associated Events" due to the main Festival's objections to the term 'Fringe', which they considered to be "outside" of the Festival. In 1978, to avoid confusion between the programmes for the two festivals, printed with similar designs at the main festival's insistence, Adrian Mealing hand wrote "Fringe" on over 3000 programmes.[3] As the 1980s approached, the festival grew into a four week event and the Fringe had established its own identity. Being centrally located between Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester and Cheltenham the Fringe drew a wide audiences from over a 20-mile radius.

Nigel Kennedy and Caleb

By the 1990s, Malvern Fringe Arts Ltd had become a registered charity. The Fringe programme had grown to a six week event and was attracting comedy and cabaret acts that were beginning to establish their reputations, including Eddie Izzard, Lee Evans, Jerry Sadowitz, Jim Tavare, Chris Lynam and a double act featuring Linda Smith and Mark Thomas, plus musical acts as varied as Gong, Juicy Lucy, Voodoo Queens and Loop Guru.

Fringe MayDay Procession
Fringe MayDay Mayhem

In 2006, in response to the perceived insular nature of the ESO's Elgar Festival, the Fringe re-launched its three day festival in June, loosely based upon a theme of Elgar's interests. One of the highlights of this festival was a bicycle race (as cycling was one of Elgar's keen interests) up the steep incline of Great Malvern's Church Street. This event was supported by Commonwealth gold medallist Liam Killeen, who's from Malvern, and was won by Frenchman Arnaud Lenoir, who just happened to be passing and was shanghaied into taking part. The whole three-day festival was attended by over 5,000 people.

In the autumn of 2006, the Fringe launched a 'folk weekend' featuring Roy Bailey and Jez Lowe.

Local Controversy

Despite an attendance of over 5,000 people the June 2006 festival has been the subject of much negative coverage in the letters pages of the local newspaper with one correspondent calling upon readers to petition the local Member of Parliament to halt any further Fringe activities.[4]

Notable Past Performers

Throughout its history Malvern Fringe featured an impressive array of performers, many of whom have gone on to become international stars.

Classical

Music

Dance

Poetry

Comedy

Literature

Theatre

References

  1. ^ Malvern Gazette and Ledbury Reporter, 19 January 1978.
  2. ^ Malvern Gazette and Ledbury Reporter, 26 January 1978.
  3. ^ Worcester Evening News, 27 April 1978.
  4. ^ "Fringe activity”, letter to Malvern Gazette and Ledbury Reporter, 11 August 2006.

External links


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