Brighton Festival Fringe is one of the largest and fastest-growing open access arts festival in the world and the largest in England. Anyone can put on an event in the Fringe, so it functions as a springboard for new work as well as a guaranteed platform for more established acts.
Brighton & Hove has held Fringe activity since the Brighton Festival was launched in 1967. In 2006 the Fringe became a company in its own right and appointed an independent board of directors: it is also a registered charity. Fringe 2010 will run from 1-23 May.
Firefly will be providing a number of solar powered stages as well as supplying all technical infrastructures across Fringe City, which is Brighton's biggest street party and a showcase for Fringe acts. Now in its fourth year, it takes place in the heart of the city each Saturday in May, bringing with it live music, food and drink stalls, street art, installations, and walkabout performers from all over the world. It also includes Fringe Street, a day of programmed international street theatre.
Nick Stockman, Fringe executive manager, said: "This marks a real step forward for the Fringe in terms of its environmental agenda. We want to pay more than lip service to the idea of sustainability, and teaming up with Firefly is a practical way of achieving this.
"We also want to help support local enterprise so it's great to be able to work with a Brighton and Hove success story like Firefly."
Andy Mead, Firefly's MD, said: "The Fringe is a flagship event for Brighton, and Firefly has been set up wholly to work with and develop community events - we've won Lottery funding to do this. The Fringe is one of the most important community events in the calendar so we felt it would be good to team up."
(Jim Evans)
