Press Releases

Quivers Wins Audience Choice Award!

1000 667 Ventnor Fringe

Popular Island drag artist Quivers has been revealed as the winner of the Ventnor Fringe’s Rouse Ltd Audience Choice Award, winning the coveted trophy and £500 prize.

Over 1,200 votes were received in the annual competition for audiences favourite act at the festival, with runners up including EarsPeeled and Jack Clay’s Comedy Club. 

Artist Registrations Now Open

Ventnor Fringe will be returning for its special 15th edition this year from 19th-28th July and artist registrations are now open for anyone who would like to bring a show to this year’s festival.

Modelled on a famous Edinburgh Fringe, hundreds of performers took part in 2023, spanning circus, theatre, comedy, cabaret, music and visual arts, in pop up venues and spaces throughout Ventnor and a new box office record was set, with 12,000 tickets sold. 

‘Fringe’ Festivals are open to anyone to take part, both amateur and professional, and in particular are popular as spaces to test out new material. Co-Director Jack Whitewood explained “We were really excited to see big names like Richard Herring and Sophie Ducker testing out new material last year, as well as Ahir Shah going on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award, following a work in progress preview in Ventnor” 

Other alumni of the festival have gone on to win MOBO’s, Grammys and Writers Guild Awards as well as commissions for Netflix, BBC and ITV.

This year, an Artists Handbook has been published providing lots of advice and information about how the festival operates and artists are reminded to apply before the deadline of 31st March 2024. Find out more at: vfringe.co.uk

Ventnor Fringe: A Statement on Ventnor Harbour

1280 853 Ventnor Fringe
The Ventnor Fringe has always worked to transform under-used and often unknown spaces and re-imagine them for the Festival, creating numerous pop up venues and spaces each year.

 

For the past seven years the Ventnor Bandstand (Harbour) has been one of our most iconic spaces, hosting The Observatory Bar along with lots of live music, DJ’s, street theatre and installations, bringing new life to the building.

Unfortunately the structure of the raised bandstand has deteriorated significantly over the years and is in need of significant repair. It is unfortunate that this has to happen during the peak summer season but clearly we are in agreement over the need to ensure public safety.

We are working closely with Southern Water to ensure the Ventnor Fringe will still be able to use the Harbour during the week of the Festival, working around the necessary repairs and we’ll be announcing the full programme for events for the space very soon.

Ventnor Fringe takes place from the 7th – 12th August 2018 with over 150 performances planned for this year.