The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society launched ‘Fringe Marketplace’ today (Tue 11th Aug), a dedicated showcase platform designed to connect arts industry delegates all over the world with professional and tour-ready artists who were programmed as part of this year’s Fringe.
All of the work on the platform has been selected and put forward by Fringe venue programmers, focusing on professional work already made and programmed for the 2020 Fringe.
Also launching as part of Fringe Marketplace is Fringe Exchange: an exciting new online events programme through which participants can engage in a series of events and discussions as well as network with peers and artists. The programme will run until 31 August 2020.
More information and details can be found at https://marketplace.edfringe.com/
Commenting on the launch, Amy Saunders, Head of Participant Services, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “With the Fringe not going ahead as planned, we didn’t want artists and professionals to miss out on the unparalleled opportunity the festival provides as the biggest arts marketplace in the world.
“We’re delighted to be able to launch Fringe Marketplace and Fringe Exchange today. Now more than ever the sector needs support to recover from the devastating impact of Covid-19. This new online platform is a great way help make connections and stimulate essential conversations.”
About Fringe Marketplace
With the Fringe not physically taking place in 2020, the new Fringe Marketplace platform is aimed at creating vital opportunities for an industry crippled by Covid-19. It provides a new place for artists and industry to connect and exchange ideas, while creating opportunities for peer review and future commissioning, collaboration and programming.
The platform encourages participating artists to think about new ways of sharing their work and will remain live until June 2021, offering longer term opportunities as the world begins to re-open post-Covid.
Fringe Marketplace has been developed after close consultation with the Fringe Society’s network of arts industry professionals. Also contributing to the platform and the curatorial expertise of Fringe venues is a team of Associates – programming specialists who critique the work on offer, provide solid context and opinion for prospective programmers.
Their industry knowledge, genre expertise and regional programming experience, coupled with their knowledge of the Fringe, its artists and venue programming, offers an extra layer of expertise and insight for those wanting a trusted voice or industry critique of a company’s work or artist’s show.
Associates include: Anthony Gray, Head of Programme at Fuel; Dani Fecko, Arts consultant for Fascinator Management; Katy Snelling, Freelance Programmer; Mary Roeder, Programming Manager at the University Musical Society; Niels Gamm, Kulturconsulting; Shoshana Polanco, Creative Producer; Jo Crowley, Independent T.heatre Producer, and Lynn Fu, Independent Performing Arts Curator and Consultant.
Industry can accredit with the Arts Industry Office to access Fringe Marketplace. Previously accredited Fringe industry can login using their existing registration details.
About Fringe Exchange
Fringe Exchange is an exciting online programme of events for and by arts industry professionals and delegates. In the absence of a physical festival, this is a chance for industry to browse online activities, and tune in to provocations, international showcase events and panel discussions as well as networking sessions.
We will be talking to industry specialists from the UK and around the world covering subjects including; the future of UK touring, the future of international working, where to for international festivals, diversity in programming and much more including a series on international showcases from around the world showcasing new ways of working and the best of their Fringe artists.
Early events in the programme not to be missed are: the Taiwan Season 2020: Showcase and Pitch on 10 August at 11:00, which will showcase four highly varied, tour-ready contemporary dance productions which would have been programmed at Dance Base and Summerhall in this year’s Fringe. The session will feature individual artist’s pitches, a tantalising taster of each dance work and the chance to have a chat with your choice of choreographers in breakout rooms.
What next for UK Touring? (10 August, 15:00) will look at how the touring industry recovers from the impact of Covid, and how we can ensure that UK touring is resilient and prosperous in the future for the sector and our audiences.
Featuring a panel of UK venues and producers includng:Tarek Iskander (chair), Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, Annabel Turpin, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of ARC Stockton, Jo Crowley, Independent Theatre Producer, Suba Das, Artistic Director of Hightide Festival
DANISH – Meet the Danes (11 August, 11:00) is a chance for participants to meet multiple award-winning director Tue Biering from Fix & Foxy, as he discusses his highly provocative, intensely political drama ‘ROCKY! RETURN OF THE LOSER’. This show set the agenda in Danish Theatre the year it was made, winning the prestigious Danish Reumert Award, completely knocking-out Danish reviewers and leaving audience speechless. Attendees can also meet artistic directors Jannik Elkjær and Kristoffer Louis Andrup Pedersen from prolific touring Danish dance company DON GNU, who will be discussing their latest dance piece WALK-MAN.
To explore the full programme and register for events, visit https://marketplace.edfringe.com/events.
Images of a selection of performers from the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
