Following our piece yesterday about Alex Welsford’s The Importance of Being Well, Ventnor Fringe organisers confirm the next set of acts for this year’s Festival. Ed
The Ventnor Fringe is delighted to announce the first confirmed acts for the 2011 programme, which is set to be one of the most diverse and exciting collections of performances seen on the Island.
Jon Kennedy, Dizraeli and the Small Gods & Marques Toliver
With our first major announcements, we’ve focused on music acts, which include sets from renowned Producer and DJ extraordinaire Jon Kennedy, the rather unique Dizraeli and the Small Gods, fronted by BBC poetry slam champion Dizraeli (pictured) and World Female Beatbox Champion Bellatrix, the hotly tipped violin wielding Marques Toliver (see video below), described by chart-topper Adele as her “favourite new artist”, after being one of the first unsigned acts to appear on ‘Later with Jools Holland’ and now on Transgressive Records.
Swedish influence
Joining them will be a special screening of ‘Sounds of Stockholm’ a unique documentary which showcases Swedish music with off-beat acoustic performances and will be presented by the Director, Valerie Toumayan along with a live set and UK debut from Swedish singer/songwriter Lesli, who features in the film.
Other acts confirmed include the classically trained Olivia Chaney, whose musical ability is combined with a raw creative energy, which has helped her cultivate and nurture a beautifully original sound. She is fast gaining worldwide recognition after a global tour with electronic band Zero 7 and solo shows at the Southbank Centre and the Globe theatre.
Local talent Emily Scotcher is the final act to be announced at this stage, a home-grown musician who will be bringing her eclectic style and grasp of conducting and writing to the Fringe in the hope of giving the audience a real musical treat.
The Ventnor Fringe Festival
These announcements follow the huge success of the inaugural Ventnor Fringe Festival last year, which saw highlights such as intimate church shows from Johnny Flynn, Karen Tweed and Jackie Oates and a unique cinema hosted by Cult French filmmaker Vincent Moon and cellist Gaspar Claus, the Fringe is set to return from the 17th-20th August, one again coinciding with the annual Carnival Celebrations.
Already shaping up to be one of the most exciting events happening on the Island this summer the Fringe is entirely created and run by a team of Island students.
Inspired by the Edinburgh Fringe, artists pay a small fee and apply to perform, run their own events under the banner of the Fringe and keep all of their own ticket sales. The team sources and creates venues, and helps source accommodation and travel.
The festival caters for any artistic discipline from theatre to music, dance to film using space across the town as venues, which vary from churches, basements and parks to halls, houses and even street corners.
With an increasing number of applications it looks set to really develop to a creative hub for artists to meet, debate, create and experiment with new work.
