World Fringe Day set for July 11
International celebration of #EdFringe’s 70th anniversary
The Edinburgh fringe is leading plans for an inaugural World Fringe Day on July 11, to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of what would become the Edinburgh fringe.
The fringe is hoping that fringe participants and audience members around the world will take part by sharing and celebrating their memories of fringes past. It points to the part which the fringe plays in openness and cultural innovation, igniting creative genius and supplying the creative food chain with the stars of the future.
Fiona Hyslop and Fringe Society staff launch Word Fringe Day. Pic Julie Howden
In 1947, eight different companies turned up uninvited to the first ever Edinburgh International Festival. More returned the next year and what had been referred to as the “Festival Adjuncts” became the Fringe, a term coined by playwright Robert Kemp in an article on August 14, 1948.
Since then, the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has formed (in 1958) and over 200 different fringe festivals have set themselves up around the world.
Now the Fringe Society and the Scottish Government have announced plans for the inaugural World Fringe Day, an international day of celebration that will take place on Tuesday 11 July.
According to the Fringe Society: “More than 200 fringes from across the world will join together on World Fringe Day to reflect on the collective power and worldwide reach of the fringe movement. Fringe participants and audiences are invited to take part on the day, by sharing their love for all things fringe on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.”
According to the society: “World Fringe Day is supported by £100K through the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo70 fund through Creative Scotland.”
At the moment, the celebrations are confined to a website, to social media hashtags: #WorldFringeDay #Fringe70 and to the @worldfringeday handle on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. There is also a special open-top tour bus provided by Lothian. The bus features 70 fringe fingerprints, each one made up of the names of the towns and cities around the world that host fringes, and will be used on Lothian’s Edinburgh Bus Tours operation.
Further plans for World Fringe Day will be unveiled over the coming months at www.worldfringeday.com.
ENDS
