Ventnor Fringe Festival have joined the many other Isle of Wight festivals that have made the decision to postpone their event in 2020.
Due to take place over six days at the end of July and beginning of August, it was with heavy hearts the Fringe organisers confirmed today (Wednesday) that this year’s event will not be going ahead.
Marking the occasion
As you would expect from folk who are always creating and innovating, they still hope to mark the occasion in a special, creative way and will reveal details in due course.
If you applied to perform, your entrance fees have been automatically rolled over to 2021 event, but if you require a refund, organisers say they will honour that.
The official word
The official announcement reads:
Just a few months ago we were full of excitement and anticipation as we announced the first shows for this year’s Ventnor Fringe, building on the success of our 10th year celebrations in 2019 to host our largest ever creative gathering, welcoming performers and audiences from all over the world to our little Island.
As with so many aspects of our day to day lives, the Pandemic has put these preparations on hold as we all adapt to this truly global challenge. It is with a heavy heart that we confirm this year’s Ventnor Fringe will not be going ahead.
We are enormously grateful to the doctors, nurses, health and social care professionals and the many other front line workers who have kept the country going in these difficult times. Our thoughts too are with all of those who have felt the economic hit of the lockdown and the unintended consequences that this will have.
We are also acutely aware of the huge damage inflicted on the creative industries, and the thousands of arts organisations and freelancers who have been impacted. We will play our part in doing everything we can to support and rebuild this creative community.
All artist registration fees and ticket sales will automatically be rolled over to 2021, but we are also committing to refunding, in full, everyone not wishing or able to do this.
Financially this is a very difficult period for us, but the generosity and support shown by everyone towards the festival and Ventnor Exchange gives us huge hope for the future and an optimism that this has become a movement that can bring about real and lasting change. We are committed to ensuring the event’s long term survival and our small team are working hard to keep the Fringe dream alive!
We still hope to mark what would have been this year’s event in an exciting creative way and will reveal more as soon as we are able to.
In the meantime, stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all next year when Ventnor Fringe will return from 27th July – 1st August 2021.
See the Ventnor Fringe Festival Website, follow their Facebook Page or Twitter account for further updates
