Full line-up for Midlands Fringe in Wolverhampton announced, with big names from comedy world announced as headliners
Top comedians, storytellers, poets and performers of all types will be taking to to the stage at venues across Wolverhampton as the full line-up for the first ever Midlands Fringe festival has been announced.
The festival, which will take place from Friday, July 25 to Sunday, July 27, will be headlined on the Friday by Lucy Porter and her Edinburgh Fringe show "Let Yourself Go" and on the Saturday by Stephen K Amos and his show "Now We're Talking", both taking place at the Arena Theatre on Wulfruna Street.
The two comedians, who have appeared on TV shows like Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo, are part of a 15-show event taking place at diverse venues, which include KTeas Cafe on St Georges Parade, The Qattery on Victoria Street and the Lych Gate Tavern.
Supported using £9,000 in public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, shows at the Fringe will cover storytelling, comedy, magic, spoken word, and theatre, with each using a pay-as-you-feel system.
From a horror special called Renfield to an improvisational event around dating to tales of fatherhood and an indie music dance-off, there will be something for everyone, with details of all shows up on the festival website, which also gives information on the venues, and explains exactly how a Fringe festival works.
In advance of the festival, Midlands Fringe have arranged a free workshop on Sunday, June 29 to equip local people with the skills necessary to write reviews of each of the fifteen Fringe shows.
All places on this workshop were snapped up within hours of it being announced.
Steve Pottinger and Emma Purhouse from Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists said the Fringe festival aims to bring a taste of Edinburgh’s world-famous festival to the West Midlands.
Mr Pottinger said: "We've done well to get the funding as there's a lot of people looking to get that funding for projects, but it's great that we've secured it for Wolverhampton as there's so many good little venues here.
"There's also a lot of great talent in the region and we just wanted to flag it up and give people something to enjoy in the city.
"We're trying to make sure that we give people a range of different artists and ensure it's not just 15 things that are all the same, so there'll be a great range of stories and performing."
Ms Purshouse, who was the first poet laureate for Wolverhampton, said “Wolverhampton is blessed with great transport links and vibrant independent venues.
"We hope to make Midlands Fringe an annual event, building it year on year, bringing the best in Fringe and comedy here to celebrate our city.”
