Ventnor Fringe, the Isle of Wight’s multi award winning arts festival, which features gigs, comedy and performances in unusual spaces around Ventnor, is set to return from 19th-28th July, and the festival’s first ever large scale circus is among the first attractions to be announced.
Revel Puck Circus’ new production ‘The Nose Dive Assembly’ will be heading to Ventnor direct from London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and promises to be a festival highlight with high wire walkers, teeterboarders and the only female Wheel of Death duo in the UK!
Long time festival favorites Impromptu Shakespeare return alongside Bristol based collective Degree of Errors with their Edinburgh Fringe smash hit Murder, She Didn’t Write, in which audiences become Agatha Christie in an improvised comedy based entirely on audience suggestions!
Theatre and dance combine in Temper Theatre’s cinematic show HOME which is likely to strike an emotional chord with local residents with it’s themes of rising sea levels and displacement.
Finn Morrell, the show’s Director explained “HOME is inspired by what we relinquish when we move away from where we begin our lives and the unsteadying emotions which can resurface when we find our way back. As the sea levels rise and the Fens (marshlands in Norfolk) return to the water, my family story will be washed away…. “
Also returning is cabaret legend Joe Black in Club Cataclysm which promises vaudevillian villainy and musical mayhem, while comedian Ahir Shah, fresh from winning the prestigious Sky Edinburgh Comedy Award hosts Pick of the Fringe showcasing some of festivals top stand ups.
Local talent is also represented, with Jack’s Comedy Club and last year’s Audience Choice Award winner Quivers back for a one off encore performance.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2024, Ventnor Fringe has grown from a gathering of 200 in 2010 to 12,000 tickets sold last year, alongside many more attending to watch street theatre and free events around the town.
With around 150 different shows expected to take part this year, new additions to the programme will be added regularly at vfringe.co.uk and audience members looking for advice or recommendations can also visit the festival box office at Ventnor Exchange (open 7 days a week from 10am) or by calling (01983) 716767.
News shared by Jack on behalf of Ventnor Fringe Festival. Ed
