Booking for the inaugural Cape Town Fringe Festival, to run from 25 September, opens today with the unveiling of the Fringe’s new website and online booking system.
This Fringe is the newest addition to the city’s arts calendar and will offer a programme dominated by theatre, with comedy, performance art, music and some jazz. “The Fringe model is a very sexy one which creates win-win partnerships between organisers, artists and audiences. It has proven its successes around the world but is still a relatively new concept in South Africa but we think there is scope for it to grow,” says CEO Tony Lankester.
Close to 160 applications were received and the end result is a programme with over 100 productions staged mainly in the iconic City Hall, as well as the Alexander Bar, Hiddingh Hall, The Dragon Room, Galloway Theatre, the German Club and The Crypt.
A Pop-up restaurant will be set up in the City Hall as a Fringe Club, serving coffee, pizza and with a full bar that will stay open until late. Audiences attending lunchtime performances can pre-order a sandwich and drink as part of a ‘give us your lunch hour, we’ll give you a show’ special.
All the shows on offer will be listed on the website and programmes will be available from Exclusive Book stores in the Western Cape. It is also available from other outlets listed on the website, and also as a PDF download.
Bookings can be done online or by calling 086 000 2014 or by fax on 086 233 2022.
The Cape Town Fringe is organised by The National Arts Festival, a member of the prestigious World Fringe Alliance – a grouping of nine Fringe Festivals which, collectively, reach an audience of over 3-million people. Alliance membership comprise the Fringe Festivals in Grahamstown, Hollywood, New York, Edinburgh, Brighton, Prague, Amsterdam, Perth and Adelaide.
“The National Arts Festival team delivers one of the world’s best-known and biggest events each year in Grahamstown. Through this partnership they will weave the same magic in Cape Town and put the City on the world Fringe map,” Lankester said.
The Cape Town Fringe will run from 25 September until 5 October 2014.
