Brighton Fringe Secured Place as England's Largest Arts Festival in 2013

2013 saw Brighton Fringe cement its place as England's largest arts festival, with an estimated 270,000 attendees (31.4% increase on 2012) flocking to some of the 734 individual events (including 176 free ones), 3654 performances at 185 venues across the city - from the atmospheric Old Police Cells to the back seats of cars. 45,000 people visited our free Fringe City outdoor showcase events and an estimated 1.5 million pounds were spent on over 165,000 tickets, making the average ticket price £9.

For the first time, Brighton Fringe ran for four weeks (4 May - 2 June), taking in two bank holiday weekends and the May half-term. This saw an increase in the Kids & Youth programme with over 100 family-friendly events including the first ever Hijack Family Fringe, free Fringe City Family Picnics as well as theatre, comedy and puppetry shows for all ages.

The programme was as broad as ever. The Spiegeltent returned bringing with it a new incarnation of LA CLIQUE (which no doubt contributed towards the 28 shows containing nudity), NoFit State pitched their Big Top and Hendrick's took over a Regency town house in Hove. There was poetry in a sauna, a 360° cinema tent and a record-breaking re-enactment of Kate Bush's WUTHERWING HEIGHTS video in Stanmer Park. The theatre programme grew to over 200 shows and the comedians were out in force again with 163 events making up the comedy programme.

The number of international companies taking part in the festival increased to 38. Five shows came over from the National Arts Festival in South Africa including A GIRL CALLED OWL and AFRICA ENTSHA, The Spiegeltent hosted MIKELANGELOand THE LISTIES from Australia and Ursa Maior Teatro, supported by the Italian Cultural Institute, presenTed Marcel.

Managing Director, Julian Caddy said, "2013 has been decisive year in the development of Brighton Fringe as it continues to make an impact on the artistic landscape of the city and the country as a whole. There is no point being a large festival unless you're also a great festival, so whether it be through the development of new work or the showcasing of world class national and international performance, Brighton Fringe has become the destination to discover it. See you in 2014!"

The high quality of shows at Brighton Fringe was acknowledged with 11 shows picking up Argus Angel Awards and others winning 10 of 15 Latest Festival Awards including 'Star of the Festival' MIKELANGELO. New writing was rewarded with GATHER YE ROSEBUDS collecting the New Writing South Award for Best New Play and Emerging Talent Award Winner, CHAPEL STREET, was well received by critics and audiences.

Brighton Fringe remains a place to show off new work; there were 210 premieres this year, including 8 pieces that were supported by the IdeasTap Brighton Fringe Funds. These shows, along with many more from our programme are going on to perform at other fringes and festivals all over the country and beyond:

Glastonbury (26 - 30 June): Phil Kay, Robin Ince, The Destroyers
'Fringe on the Fringe' at Upstairs at Southern Cross (28 June - 4 August): 36 shows including The Silent Stream, Dickie and Dave, Homeless in Homeland, Chain Letters.
Latitude Festival (18 - 21 July): Les Infants Terrible, John Osborne, Rob Auton, Jonny & The Baptists, The Humble Quest for Universal Genius, Boogaloo Stu.
Henley Fringe (20 - 28 July): The Trials and Tribulations of Mr Pickwick, That Pair.
Camden Fringe (29 July - 25 August): Nathan Cassidy, Ajax, In Capacity House, Pillow-Talk, Window.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2 - 26 August): Over 117 shows including Bianco, Albert Einstein: Relatively Speaking, The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show, Desperately Seeking the Exit, The Fantasist, Doug Segal.

The Brighton Fringe team will also be holding a roadshow event at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 'How to take part in Brighton Fringe 2014' (2:30 p.m., 18 August, Fringe Central, Edinburgh).