Colchester Fringe Festival set to launch in 2020

Colchester Fringe Festival will showcase local, national and international talent across a host of traditional and unusual venues across the town.

Fringe theatre is often performances which are experimental in style or subject matter and fringe festivals, of which there are nearly 300 across the world including the iconic Edinburgh Fringe, aim to offer theatre to the public at a reduced cost.

Colchester Actor Cameron Abbott-Betts and producer Steve Goatman are the men behind the project and their skillsets match nicely to make the event a success.

Mr Abbott-Betts said: "I have been touring my own shows at fringe festivals since 2015.

"I was in America at a fringe festival in Indianapolis when I had this moment where I wondered why we do not have one in Colchester.

"I am doing a PHD at Essex University which is where I met Steve by chance as we were both at the same event.

"We got talking and then decided to set about really getting things together."

Mr Goatman said: "I came to Colchester to study drama and graduated in 2007. I decided to stay in Colchester and I started working at Colchester Arts Centre and the Mercury Theatre.

"I then started working part time at the Lakeside Theatre on campus in marketing.

"When I first started working on campus I wanted to unite the arts scene because I noticed a lot of students were not taking advantage of these amazing places on their doorstep.

"I set up something called the Culture Crawl where I would take a bus load of first year students into the town and we would go around the arts venues.

"I thought I was in a good position to set something up, which is when I met Cameron."

Plans for the festival have been taking place behind the scenes for some time, but Colchester Fringe Festival is finally ready to launch this May.

Over four-days there will be hundreds of performances at venues like the Headgate Theatre but also in pubs, charity shops, cafes, independent stores and even potentially at a stall on Colchester Market.

Fringe shows are generally less than 60 minutes long and you won't have to shell out an arm and a leg to get tickets.

Mr Abbotts-Betts, who runs his own theatre company Royal Kung Foolery, said: "We have opened the application window for acts which runs until December 15.

"Afterwards there is a group of people who get together and select the acts and companies which we believe will be most suited for the festival. There is then a window for people looking to get involved and help out as we will need lots of volunteers.

"Myself and Steve won't be making money out of the event and we only have a small budget to put it on."

Mr Goatman, who now teaches drama at the University of Essex, said: "We are really excited and we are in a really good position. We have a little bit of funding from the council to spend of use to get leverage for more funding.

"We will be doing fundraising events and applying for more money from all sorts of places but we know we can do this on a shoestring budget.

"We plan to put on performances which will resonate with people in Colchester."

If all goes well, the duo hope the event will become a yearly fixture in Colchester's calendar and help cement its place as the cultural capital of Essex.

Mr Abbott-Betts says he hopes hundreds, or even thousands, of visitors will be brought to Colchester by the festival, many of whom may never visit otherwise.

"I really hope it will be a big boost for Colchester," he said.

"All the venues will be within walking distance of the town centre.

"50 per cent of the acts will be local, 25 per cent national and the rest international.

"Half of the programme will probably never have been to Colchester before."

Mr Goatman added: "I have a skillset Cameron does not have and the other way around. I am confident we can make it a success."

During Colchester Fringe Festival, which takes place between May 22 and 25, bar Coda, in High Street, will act as a hub and meeting point, selling tickets and distributing programmes.

To find out more, visit facebook.com/ColchesterFringe.