Hello again!

Hope you’re all having a great 2010 so far and are filled with impish glee at our snow-covered world,and are not glum and disheartened by dodgy roads and troublesome school closures.

January has seen the Fringe get some long-awaited and much appreciated press coverage at last, so fingers crossed people will hear about our Open Days on Saturday 16th and 30th January BEFORE they happen, after all!! (It was a little worrying there for a while.)  And a great big thank you goes to Stephen Foster on BBC Radio Suffolk for letting me wiffle on about the Fringe during his drivetime show in December.  You can hear it here: Fringe interview BBC Radio Suffolk Dec 2009.

Further thanks go to Roundabout Magazine (www.roundaboutsuffolk.co.uk) for their coverage and support, and also Grapevine (www.grapevineweb.co.uk), Ipswich 24 (www.ipswich24.co.uk) and the East Anglian Daily Times who are all backing us and helping spread the word – thanks chaps!   Plus, you can read about us on page 5 of this week’s Bury Free Press.

All the positive publicity means interest is really picking up, with more and more people getting in touch to give their ideas and suggestions for events to submit to the Fringe.  But we don’t have enough yet, so please, keep it coming!  We’re hoping to meet lots of people during our Open Days, so feel free to drop into Benson Blakes and say hi, show us your act or idea, introduce your friends to us, offer your help or resources, and generally get involved.  In particular, I’m hoping there may be one or two writers out there who will venture out to make themselves known to us, as we would love to have some original works created especially for the Fringe, to be premiered during the fortnight.  Know anyone who might be good for that? Give ‘em a nudge from us…

As suggested in my very first blog, all you arty types are invited to create your own version of our ’stickman’ logo, and we’ll circulate the best on our website so you can show off your talents.  In addition, I’m also now inviting you to come up with humourous animations, showing a ‘day in the life’ of our trusty little logo mascots – let your imaginations run riot, and entertain us!  Whether you make a traditional flipbook or fancy something a bit more sophisticated like this online software at http://www.aniboom.com/shapeshiftermain/?ref=/Footer/, I would LOVE to see what you can come up with, and we’ll share them on our website and Youtube channel (our username is ‘BuryFringe’).  Go on, give it a go, it’s FUN!!

Now then, one last thing before I sign off for today.  Have you ever fancied learning the art of street mime?  You know, that thing where you delight and terrorise your audience in equal part, while showing off your comedic skills (and maybe getting a few quid thrown at you for good measure)?  I was contacted yesterday by a very lovely lady who herself is a talented and popular street mime artist.  She has offered to train up 5 or 6 lucky applicants ahead of the festival, where they will then get to perform and hone their craft in front of our no-doubt intrigued townsfolk.  There may well be a competitive element involved, so this could be your big chance to learn a brand new art form and make a name for yourself in this unusual field.  If you’d like to be considered for this, please drop me a line at claire@buryfringe.com, letting me know what experience you have in the performing arts (if any, it’s not essential), a brief description of yourself, both personality and appearance-wise, and why you would like to learn how to become a street mime.  This is a unique opportunity, so go for it!

So, I must away now, back to my Inbox and to-do list.  Have a great week, and we’ll see you at Benson Blakes on Saturday!

Claire

PS Forgot to mention – we’re on Google Wave, and keen to natter in real time about ideas and plans for all things Fringe.  Look us up under ‘Bury Fringe Festival’, and don’t worry if you’re not on Wave yet, we have over 50 invitations to give away! Drop us an email and we’ll get you signed up.  Come and share your thoughts and join the gang :0)  x