Here are some of our favourite selected events for this years Ventnor Fringe Festival – (we may be biased as they mainly include members of the IW Creative Network!) But guess what? There’s loads!! So many artists, performers and creatives are showing what they do best at this year’s fringe and we guarantee you’ll find something that’s totally your jam! Take a look at our little selection we’ve put together and of course, don’t forget to check out vfringe.co.uk for full listing of everything else going on this year!
Ventnor Fringe 2023 runs from Friday 21st – Sunday 30th July.
Taroo – Festival Launch Event
This year’s festival will be launched with a free performance on Ventnor Esplanade!
Taroo is a Parkour and circus comedy show telling stories from streets all over the world. With a fusion of acrobatics, Chinese pole and urban street moves. Performed and created by Moroccan circus artist Said Mouhssine – a free runner, stage director, actor and stuntman and featuring local young people in a special collaboration with Sasha Biloshisky’s Funk Format. Produced by our friends at Crying Out Loud.
FREE – just turn up!
Friday 21st July, 5pm solo performance & Saturday 22nd July, 1pm with Funk Format.
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/taroo/
The Makers Market
The Makers Market is back at a new venue! This year they are hosted at St. Catherine’s Church as part of the new Fringe Square. The market runs for the longer time of 4 days this year. Check out a wide range of Island creatives work including clothing, accessories, jewellery, artwork, crafts and home-ware.
Refreshments will be available to buy provided by the St.Catherine’s Church coffee morning. The Fringe square also hosts The Book Bus selling second hand books and a busking stage!
FREE – just turn up!
Friday 21st – Saturday 22nd & Friday 28th – Saturday 29th July 10am-4pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/the-makers-market/
Fringe Forum – Cultural Conference
Check us out here – a mini cultural conference held at the mid point of the festival. Featuring industry panels, lively debates and lots of opportunities to meet new people.
This is for everyone who cares about the role of culture in shaping our future together, and is open to both performers of any discipline and members of the public. Be inspired, make connections and help shape the future of Ventnor Fringe and cultural provision on the Isle of Wight.
Tuesday 25th July, 10am-3.30pm at The Nest
Tickets are FREE but must be booked in advance here:
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/fringe-forum-cultural-conference/
For more info on who’s speaking and when, go here: https://iwcreativenetwork.com/fringe-forum-cultural-conference/
IW Creative Network Meet Up
A chance to mooch and mingle with other creatives, performers and artists from this year’s Ventnor Fringe Festival and members of the IW Creative Network! Open to all! Come along to this informal networking event, have a drink and maybe see a show afterwards! We’re particularly interested in finding out what we can do, as a network, to best support Theatre Creatives and those working in Live Events, whether it be on stage or behind the scenes – we’d love to know what we can do to help you thrive in your Creative practice.
No need to book, just turn up and enjoy this relaxed and informal event with other like-minded creatives!
FREE – just turn up!
Thursday 27th July, 5pm-8pm at the Big Top Bar
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/iw-creative-network-meet-up/
THEATRE:
The Boy Who Headbutted the Sun by Ben Murray-Holmes
Blending fantasy and reality, past and present, theatre and spoken word, ‘The Boy Who Headbutted The Sun’ is a show about the struggles of creativity, dashed dreams and the stories we tell ourselves as we stumble blindly into adulthood. Life may sometimes not give you what you want but it can give you what you need.
Tuesday 25th – Friday 28th July, 3.30pm-4.30pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/the-boy-who-headbutted-the-sun/
Fake It Till You break It! by Andrew Butcher
When you’ve been pretending for so long, how do you know where your cheekbones end and the mask begins?An exploration of our insecurities and the lengths we go to hide them.
Featuring storytelling, crazy characters, spoken word, and the world’s most epic wrestling match! You won’t want to miss this debut show from the wight lion himself, HYPE-MAN-DREW! Andrew Butcher!
Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd July, 3pm-4pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/fake-it-till-you-break-it/
The Lighthouse Keeper by Joe Plumb & Ashleigh Mackness
Inspired by the debut children’s book by illustrator Zoe Sadler, ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’ fuses clowning, circus, comedy, and theatre in this quirky show that the whole family will enjoy.
This is the tale of a Lighthouse Keeper who isn’t very good at his job and a fisherman who is lost at sea in his tiny boat sailing perilously close to the rocks. Will the fisherman be guided to safety by the beam of the lighthouse or will it go down in a watery whirl?
Created and performed by Joe Plumb (Artistic Director of Horse Box Theatre Company) and Ashleigh Mackness with the lighthouse made by Shademakers UK influenced by the original illustrations by Zoe Sadler.
Tuesday 25th, Wednesday 26th & Thursday 27th July, 11am-12pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/the-lighthouse-keeper/
VISUAL ART:
Art_House_Life: Albedo Marz
Preview event: Thursday 20th July, 6.30-8.30pm
art_house_life at 35 Madeira Road opens this year on 2 floors with a (free) tour of recent paintings, collages, assemblages, drawings & 3d artworks by albedo marz exclusively for Ventnor Fringe 2023.
Large-scale immersive encounters from a broken world accommodate geography & psyche, history & science, myth & storytelling – bringing together that which does not yet exist with that which no longer exists.
Open daily Fri 21st – Sun 30th July 11am-1pm & 2.30-4.30pm.
Artist talks on Sun 23rd & Sun 30th July 3-4pm.
Guest events by Paul Windridge:
Tue 25th July, 6-7pm: Selected international short animations
Thu 27th July, 6-7pm: Fox Tales – Paul’s unique relationship with local wildlife.
Book (free) tickets via Ventnor Fringe Box Office.
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/art_house_life-albedo-marz/
Wish you were here at Peer Studios
Preview event: Saturday 22nd July, 2pm-4pm
Ice cream colours, deck chair stripes, arcade polka dots and souvenir-esque sculpture punctuate the gallery walls in this tongue in cheek exhibition curated by Jo Hummel.
Told through the voices of eight contemporary British Artists, ‘Wish You Were Here’ mediates on the iconic Great British seaside holiday.
Exhibiting artists include Dominic Beattie, Julian Brown, Robyn Graham, Ever Grainger, Laura Hathaway, Jo Hummel, Phil Illingworth and Simon Linington.
FREE – just turn up!
Sunday 23rd July 11am-4pm, Tuesday 25th – Sunday 30th July 11.30am-4pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/wish-you-were-here/
OLIVIA by Teresa Grimaldi & Sara Vardy
Official Launch Event: Tuesday 25th July, 6pm
OLIVIA is a site-specific installation, located in a public shelter by Myrtle Bay. The work re-tells the extraordinary life of Miss Parkes, who lived for almost 40 years in a dilapidated boathouse held up by stilts. Using animated micro ‘vignettes’ within a replica wooden model boathouse, it is accompanied by audio recordings of Ventnorians who remember her.
Olivia’s life raises many questions about how unconventional people are treated within society. The scene captures the details of her daily existence, intriguingly opening a window on the spirit of a woman who dared to live differently.
FREE – just turn up
Tuesday 25th to Sunday 30th July, 2pm-7pm, Sunday 30th July, 11am-3pm.
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/olivia/
Figure stopped in Motion: pubic artwork by Izzy Kori
‘Figure stopped in motion’ is an 8ft sculpture constructed out of MDF wood using airbrush techniques. The artwork will be situated within the Fringe Village, enjoying and observing the activities around them. See if you can spot them! Izzy Kori is a fine art student from the Isle of Wight, studying at Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford.
Specially commissioned for Ventnor Fringe by Brave Island & The IW Creative Network Bursary Special Opportunity.
FREE – just turn up!
Friday 21st – Sunday 30th July
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/figure-stopped-in-motion-2023/
MUSIC & SPOKEN WORD:
Nina Ross
Nina has a ‘A voice like a bird. A bird in the dark lit by the moon’. With a childhood spent singing classical music, Nina emerged from Covid lockdowns with a renewed jazz voice. With a fast-growing reputation on and off the Island, Nina is strong in the art of emotional and musical exploration in collaboration with her highly creative and brilliant trio. With storytelling at the forefront, Nina sings with a purity of sound and a touch of folk. She looks to thread between the shifting lines of hope and melancholy, joy and sorrow. With eclectic influences, Nina’s music comes with a sense of exploration, freedom, longing and release.
Thursday 27th July, 7.30pm-9pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/nina-ross/
EARSPEELED: A DAY @ THE FRINGE V2
After last year’s sold-out show, Earspeeled are delighted to be returning to Ventnor Fringe in 2023 to once again be putting on a ‘day festival inside a festival!’
This year, there are a variety of artists performing. Some are travelling from far away and some are walking up the road. There should be something for everyone, for all to enjoy. Including a Silent Disco finish! Headlining this year’s Day @ The Fringe is Coventry based alt/indie band FEET, alongside the likes of Dublin’s Fizzy Orange, Bristol’s Grandmas House, London’s Freddy Merkky, and an array of Island talent that you all know and love including: Froglands PK, The Optimists, Pet Lounge, Mouth, Panda Swim, BOCA, Muffy and George Street Kids
Earspeeled were blown away by your support last year, and hope that they can create a memorable day for everyone involved once more. If you haven’t heard of any artists that are performing, please do check them out.
Keep your Ears (and eyes) Peeled on social media for more info on band times and updates – @ears_peeled
Saturday 22nd July, 1pm-11pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/earspeeled-a-day-the-fringe-v2/
Enough is Enough by The Ventnor Exchange Spoken Word Collective
Back for a third year, ‘The Ventnor Exchange Spoken Word Collective’ are proud to present ‘Enough is Enough’. Through the prism of Judge & Jury, we put humanity on trial, examining our impact on not only the planet’s ecosystem, but to each other as a shared humanity. Told through farce, satire, and occasional emotional sincerity, we explore what comes next for humans…
Saturday 22nd July, 5.30pm-6.30pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/enough-is-enough/
WORKSHOPS:
Drawing Club with Katy Rose
Hosted by guest artist Katy Rose, a professional illustrator who has worked for clients including IW Festival, RSPCA, and Heineken as well as being an associate artist of Ventnor Fringe. In this taster session Katy will be on hand to set you some fun challenges and set the theme for the session. Materials are provided.
Tuesday 25th & Thursday 27th July, 1pm-2.30pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/drawing-club/
Hidden Histories: Isle of Wight Women
Free zine making workshop with Sarah Rae Redrup
Why are reporters flocking to a small train station in Whippingham? Did you see the mysterious cloaked figures dancing around a battered notebook at Newtown Creek? Who is Charles Dickens visiting in Freshwater? With local artist, Sarah Rae, you travel through time to uncover incredible true stories of Isle of Wight Women. Our history is equal parts fascinating, silly and inspiring. Let’s not let these stories fade away; together we will use scrap paper and glue to make a collaborative zine to keep the history alive. All ages and abilities welcome. All materials provided free.
Free – Just turn up!
Friday 28th July, 1pm-4:30 pm
https://vfringe.co.uk/events/hidden-histories-isle-of-wight-women/
