It's over for another year

Thank you to the volunteers in every department who made it all happen - venue staff, technicians, admin, systems, publicity. Thank you to the sponsors and funders who helped to provide the wherewithal to make it happen. Thank you to the venues who provided the places for it to happen. Thank you to the team of reviewers and the photographers who recorded it as it happened and stirred the conversations. And thank you, of course, to the companies and performers who animated Barnstaple with such a happening event.

share your views

Though it's over, there's still the opportunity to add your comments to the Fringe TheatreFest views blog or to write your own review of a show or perhaps an overview of what Fringe TheatreFest 2018 meant to you.

You will also find these reviews posted on our Facebook and Twitter accounts where, of course, you can also add your own commentary. What shows particularly appealed to you this year? What would have made your Fringe experience even better?

what is Fringe TheatreFest?

Fringe TheatreFest in year twelve is bigger and more wide-ranging than ever. There are six ticketed venues plus a whole raft of shows in alternative spaces - including the Tent on the Square - that charge on a pay-what-you-will basis.

There are 262 performances of 78 different shows in just 4 days.

There’s comedy, tragedy, dance, spoken word, music, circus and puppetry in a multitude of combinations.

We can honestly say, hands on hearts, there is something for everyone!

Fringe TheatreFest is a low-cost opportunity to savour a whole variety of theatre. There are professional companies at the top of their game, community companies presenting ambitious work, aspiring professionals, schools, colleges, youth theatres and other groupings each with their own reasons for taking part. All share a passion to communicate. The festival is not juried or curated or censored. So the programme doesn't conform to a single vision of how theatre should be made or what it should contain but instead presents a huge range of approaches.

Fringe TheatreFest is supported by a large group of experienced volunteers - many professionals amongst them - who provide box-office, stewarding and technical expertise.

Fringe TheatreFest attracts invaluable backing from sponsors and grant-giving bodies as well as businesses, schools and other institutions that help us in kind.

governance and who we are

staying in Barnstaple

If you are visiting Barnstaple for Fringe TheatreFest, we hope these accommodation suggestions will be useful.

get involved

If you are interested in being part of the volunteer team, check out the information on the volunteers page and either fill in the form or start a dialogue via the contact page.

Take a look at the archive to see what we've been up to over the past eleven years.

You might be interested in sponsorship opportunities or other financial support.