Ventnor Fringe is 10-years-old and next week the Isle of Wight’s southernmost town will be transformed with ‘pop up’ venues and bars on every corner to host nearly 150 performances of over 90 different shows, alongside many more free events and activities.
The festival is split into 3 main areas; Parkside, an area in Ventnor Park with tented venues like The Magpie and the Comedy & Cabaret Tent; Harbourside, a bar and music venue on the seafront and Downtown, the centre of Ventnor which now houses a whole host of venues including Ventnor Exchange, Ventnor Arts Club and Hygeia House, along with a number of churches, pubs and pop up venues.
This year the new dates have encouraged a massive range of comedy, mostly previewing work ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe the following week. Top acts to look out for include Glenn Moore, Ahir Shah, Eleanor Tiernan and Bilal Zafar, all poised to break big in the year ahead.
Theatre buffs should head to the new Magpie Big Top for The Hound of The Baskervilles: The Hit Farce, Impromptu Shakespeare and Bon Ami, a female led comedy two hander developed in association with Battersea Arts Centre and The Unicorn Theatre in London. But don’t forget to venture to some of the smaller, more obscure venues too.
Ventnor is full of great places to eat, but this year a new Fringe Canteen will be added to the mix. Created in collaboration with the Isle of Wight Street Food Company and located at Harbourside, it’s a great spot to grab a bite to eat before some of the amazing gigs in the space like Chicago pysch group Post Animal and East London rapper Barney Artist.
When in doubt, head to the Ventnor Exchange on Church Street, which is open everyday from 09:00 until late, where you can get advice and information on everything going on at the event.
For more information and tickets visit www.vfringe.co.uk.
