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The line up has been announced for Preston’s biggest performance festival – with some of the UK’s best shows coming to the city.
Lancashire Fringe Festival’s exciting programme includes comedy, dance, spoken word and theatre, plus several new commissions showcasing the work of Lancashire-based performers. Everything is free to attend.
Over 20 shows and performances will take place on 15 consecutive nights from Wednesday 25 September. Hosting venues include The Ferret, Vinyl Tap, The Continental, UCLan’s Media Factory, Central Methodist Church and the Bus Station.
There is also a unique Poet’s Pub Tour, which will take in several independent pubs and bars across the city, including Lost Bar and Pizzeria, Winedown and Winckley Street Ale House.
Read more: Preston Pub Festival to return with live music, food specials, tap-takeovers and more
Several of the shows coming to the festival have been big hits at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They include Louise Orwin’s five-star rated TikTok-inspired show Famehungry, Naomi Wood’s acrobatic spoken word show Gobbess and Cheekykita’s word-of-mouth hit clowning show An Octopus, the Universe ’n’ Stuff.
Legendary Preston-based radio presenter John Gillmore will host the exciting Short Story Slam, where the audience votes for their favourite short stories, which are read out live by local writers.
Read more: John Gillmore hosting The Parched Pea Podcast
There are several double-bill nights including work-in-progress performances by Nathan Birkinshaw and Blackpool’s Martha Pailing, plus dance pieces by Aimee Williamson and Aline Costa. Costa’s work-in-progress at Lancashire Fringe Festival two years ago was a major success and she has gone on to develop a full conceptual dance performance.
Specially commissioned pieces include new writing by Kirkham-based writer and actor Sarah Green, brand new work by Preston College student Lydia Baines and the return of the hugely popular Lancashire Briefs monologues by Lancashire People’s Theatre.
LPT’s work features new writing monologues by Lancashire writers, performed by Lancashire actors. As well as a date at The Continental where over 100 people are expected to see the performances, Lancashire Briefs ’24 will also be performed at community venues including Plungington Community Centre to give all audiences the chance to see their work.
Read more: Preston and Penwortham theatre team launch crowdfunder for new monologues show
All shows in Lancashire Fringe Festival are free – with an optional Pay What You Decide donation bucket available at the end of each show.
Festival creator Garry Cook, who has put on shows independently at various venues across the city for the last decade, said: “It is not a secret in Preston that engaging audiences with arts and culture is a massive problem. Not enough people are coming out to see live entertainment, theatre, shows, comedy or whatever.
“It’s a long-term problem exacerbated by the closure of The Guild Hall and the Harris, by not having an Arts Centre and having only one working theatre space.
“It is widely acknowledged that arts and culture drives economic growth, so addressing this problem is crucial for Preston, particularly as the Animate leisure complex in Preston moves forward.”
Opinion: Lack of arts venues is leaving the people of Preston without cultural engagement
Garry continued: “This festival’s primary aim is to address that problem by making the shows free. I’ve just been to Edinburgh Fringe where I was paying £17 minimum to see shows. Most people in Preston won’t come out for a £12 show, never mind one that costs £30 or £35.
“These free shows are crucial for Preston’s arts future – to re-engage audiences and encourage people to come out and experience live performance. They will get to see something unforgettable. It’s the experience of being there and being entertained by something thought-provoking and unusual that makes this festival so special.
“Following on from the festival, there will also be one show a month put on with subsidised ticket prices. This is to ensure Preston audiences have an accessible and affordable opportunity to continue to see live performance and theatre in this city.”
The festival is funded by Arts Council England.
Full details of the shows can be found on the Enjoy the Show website.
Full shows list:
Wednesday 25 September
Naomi Wood: Gobbess (performance, acrobatics, spoken word)
Media Factory, UCLan, 7.30pm
Cheekykita: An Octopus, the Universe ’n’ Stuff (comedy)
The Ferret, 9pm
Thursday 26 September
Lancashire People’s Theatre: Lancashire Briefs ’24 (theatre)
Penwortham Arts Centre, 7.30pm
Friday 27 September
Lancashire People’s Theatre: Lancashire Briefs ’24 (theatre)
Plungington Community Centre, 7.30pm
Saturday 28 September
Phoebe Foxtrot: Capacity To Hold (1-2-1 performance)
Preston Bus Station, from 12pm to 6pm
Shak (spoken word + open mic)
Preston Bus Station, 6pm
Sole Rebel (music and tap dance)
Preston Bus Station, 7pm
Joshua Holden: Rise of the Fire Wolf (fire show)
Preston Bus Station, 7.45pm
Sunday 29 September
Lancashire People’s Theatre: Lancashire Briefs ’24 (theatre)
The Continental, 7.30pm
Monday 30 September (work-in-progress double bill)
Nathan Birkinshaw: Get a Proper Job (performance)
The Continental, 7.30pm
Martha Pailing: Chat Sh*t, Get Hit (performance)
The Continental, 8.30pm
Tuesday 1 October (double bill)
Aimee Williamson: Ballad of the Selkie (dance)
The Continental, 7.30pm
Aline Costa: In Bloom (dance)
The Continental, 8pm
Wednesday 2 October
Close Enough to Touch (theatre)
The Ferret, 7.30pm
Thursday 3 October
Anthony Briscoe: Talentless Millennial Poet (spoken word and open mic)
Vinyl Tap, 7.30pm
Friday 4 October
Short Story Slam hosted by John Gillmore
Preston Central Methodist Church, 7.30pm
Saturday 5 October
Louise Fazackerley’s Poet’s Pub Tour
Various locations, from 3pm
The Girl Organist: Her Hair (organ performance and dance)
Preston Central Methodist Church, 5.30pm
Sunday 6 October
Nana Funk: Tough Old Bird (performance, comedy)
The Continental, 7.30pm
Monday 7 October (double bill)
Unnamed play by Lydia Baines (new theatre)
The Ferret, 7.30pm
Jo & Dave Have Moved (new theatre)
The Ferret, 8.30pm
Tuesday 8 October
The S WERD (spoken word and open mic)
Venue TBC, 7pm
Wednesday 9 October
Louise Orwin: Famehungry (performance)
Media Factory, UCLan, 7.30pm
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This story was made possible by you, our readers, and a host of organisations in the city, through our Crowdfund Lancashire appeal, which unlocked support from the Lancashire Culture and Sport Fund provided by Lancashire County Council. You can see all our coverage and, if you know of an arts project or event in the city we should be covering, you can submit it for our event listings and/or send details to contactus@blogpreston.co.ukami for us to cover it as a story on the Blog.
