Brighton Fringe - Annual Review 2019

ANNUAL REVIEW 2019

Showmanship by BoonDog Theatre PHOTO: ANDY O’HARA

Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams: Bibi and Bichu Ltd PHOTO: MUNDIALPHOTO

FOREWORD It is a pleasure to introduce 2019’s Brighton Fringe Annual Review. This year was the biggest yet, with 4,774 performances and 1,034 events over four weeks in May, all across Brighton & Hove.

Having been involved for over 23 years, I take great pride in having seen Brighton Fringe grow from its humble beginnings to becoming the largest arts festival in England. The depth and diversity of participants that travel from all over the globe to perform in Brighton every May is staggering; ambition always unrivalled, calibre continually high, and audiences ever passionate. Over the years the Fringe has nurtured and sustained so many artists from all corners of the creative map, and this is thanks to the entire team; Patrons, Trustees, staff, volunteers, partners and supporters.

2019 was a triumph and I can’t wait for 2020, so thank you to everyone involved for making Brighton Fringe both a feat of community and a cornerstone of the international arts festival calendar.

Colin Matthews Chair

Miss Disney: Brighton Big Drag Pageant PHOTO: AYLA CARLI

INTRODUCTION This year has cemented Brighton Fringe as a deeply diverse international festival, with 34 countries represented from Austria to Australia, the Faroe Islands to France, Spain to Slovenia, sustaining precious relationships on an international scale; embracing all aspects of our continent of Europe and indeed the world.

The arts are for everyone, and as an open-access festival it is profoundly important that we help overcome the limitations that are presented upon some audiences and participants. Our accessibility has once again improved, with 160 Freedom Season events taking place in 2019, a massive increase on the 16 accessible events that happened last year. 52% of Freedom Season events offered additional accessibility at the Fringe this year, for example many events were BSL interpreted, audio described, included touch tours, relaxed performances, and/or were captioned. The Freedom Season has allowed Brighton Fringe to be experienced by anyone, and bringing the arts to whoever would like to experience and participate in it is something we are continually proud of.

As always, Brighton Fringe brings the community together, with Brighton always at the heart of the festival. We are honoured to help participants grow through performing here; in 2019, we granted £22,000 of financial support to Brighton Fringe participants, nurturing performers to reach their full potential and take their productions to the next level. Brighton Fringe also holds great importance in establishing acts on a global scale and winners of the Brighton Fringe International Touring Bursary in Association with the Pebble Trust, Queer Street Productions, were able to take ‘All I See is You’ to Australia for Sydney and Melbourne Fringes in September 2019 through our help.

We were also pleased to support ‘The Canary and the Crow’ by Middle Child, the 2019 winners of the Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence at Edinburgh Fringe.

Looking forward to 2020, we hope to once again provide an opportunity for a sundry of creatives to escape into in a wholly unrestricted space. We anticipate another great expression of individuality, which enriches both our community and the world as a whole.

Julian Caddy CEO

Railed: Head First Acrobats PHOTO: MUNDIALPHOTO

2019 AT A GLANCE DISTRIBUTION 4 1,034 90,000

WEEKS

164 VENUES

233

EVENTS

4,774

BRIGHTON FRINGE BROCHURES DISTRIBUTED ACROSS SUSSEX, KENT AND LONDON

365

FAMILY GUIDES DISTRIBUTED ACROSS EAST AND WEST SUSSEX

PERFORMANCES

FREE EVENTS

WORLD PREMIERES

604,008

99,000

TOTAL ATTENDANCES

FRINGE CITY FOOTFALL

269,628

£2.2M+

TOTAL TICKETS SOLD

£20M

GENERATED FOR THE LOCAL ECONOMY

OVERALL TICKET VALUE

SOCIAL MEDIA

55.8K 15K 10.4K

70,000 10,000

INTERNATIONAL AND FREEDOM SEASONS GUIDES DISTRIBUTED ACROSS BRIGHTON & HOVE

WEB STATS 301,819 UNIQUE VISITORS TO BRIGHTONFRINGE.ORG

2,204,905 PAGE VIEWS

Fit Up Productions PHOTO: DANNY FITZPATRICK

CULTURAL & SOCIAL OUTCOMES AUDIENCE GROWTH

†

Direct engagement in Brighton Fringe is growing, with a 141% audience increase since 2014, demonstrating our commitment to extending the inclusivity and reach of the festival

Brighton Fringe is a truly international festival, presenting events from a diverse range of cultures.

In 2019 Brighton Fringe hosted 144 international events from 35 countries

98% of the audience agreed that Brighton Fringe makes a positive contribution to Brighton’s image*

604K 573K 555K

Countries with events at Brighton Fringe 2019

535K

88% of the audience believe Brighton Fringe helps to enhance the sense of community in Brighton

18 bursaries were offered to participants in 2019

405K

250K

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

† Based on a combination of Brighton Fringe Box Office ticket sales, venue ticket sales and attendances at free events

Over £22,000 of financial support was given to participants in 2019 *Stats from our 2019 online audience survey

92% of the audience agreed that Brighton Fringe encourages greater participation in community life and events*

Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Walking Tours: Guru Dudu Productions PHOTO: DAVID SMITH

BRIGHTON FRINGE 2019 BY CATEGORY CABARET & CIRCUS 79 events CHILDREN & YOUTH 65 events COMEDY 419 events DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE 32 events EVENTS & FILM 39 events LITERATURE & SPOKEN WORD 25 events

OUR AUDIENCES

All statistics, unless otherwise noted, are derived from our 2019 Audience Survey, conducted online.

WHO ARE THEY? 65+

13%

55-64

21%

45-54

25%

35-44

21%

25-34

13%

1% Other/ 20-24 Prefer not to say 16-19

4%

30% Male 69% Female

Age

35%

65%

Brighton Residents

0.6%

HOW DO THEY BEHAVE? 71% of visitors spent 1-3 days in the city

MUSIC 81 events NIGHTLIFE 14 events

Visitors

Average of 4 shows per audience member

THEATRE 252 events TOURS 22 events VISUAL ARTS 25 events WORKSHOPS 22 events

15% of visitors spent 4-7 days in the city 22% of our audience who stayed in Brighton paid for accommodation

18% of our audience spent over £60 per person on food, drink and travel

99,000

attended Fringe City and Family Picnics

OUR AUDIENCES Percentage of customers in each county.

Orkney 50%+

649%

Western Isles

1 - 5%

Shetland Islands

0.21 0.9%

Skye

Grampian

Highland

0.1 0.2%

SCOTLAND

Tayside Mull Fife

Central

0%

Islay

Lothian

NORTHERN IRELAND

Strathclyde

Northumberland

Dumfries & Galloway

Antrim

Tyrone Fermanagh

Borders

Arran

Deny

0.001 0.09%

Tyne & Wear Durham

Cumbria

ENGLAND

Down Armagh

Isle of Man

North Yorkshire West Yorkshire Greater Manchester

Lancashire Merseyside Anglesey Clwyd

WALES

Gwynedd

West Midlands Worcester

Cheshire

Dyfed

Glamorgan

Cornwall

WORLD MAP

Nottinghamshire

Leichestershire

Warwickshire

Bristol

Wiltshire

Norfolk Cambridgeshire

Suffolk

Hertford- Essex shire

Gloucester- Oxfordshire shire Gwent

Somerset Devon

Derbyshire

Staffordshire Shropshire

Powys Hereford

South Yorkshire Lincolnshire

Berkshire Hampshire

Greater London Surrey

Kent

Dorset Isle of Wight

West Sussex

East Sussex

Brighton & Hove

Northamptonshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire

2100: A Space Novelty: Cut Mustard Theatre PHOTO: DANNY FITZPATRICK

SERVICES OFFERED TO PARTICPANTS Including:

ARTS INDUSTRY LIAISON BURSARIES & FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FINANCE & BUDGETING ADVICE VENUE GUIDANCE & LIAISON PARTICIPATION & REGISTRATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS ONLINE RESOURCES & GUIDES COPYWRITING & MARKETING ADVICE REGULAR NEWSLETTERS & DEDICATED SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS

OUR PARTICIPANTS

All statistics, unless otherwise noted, are derived from our 2019 Participants Survey, conducted online.

WHO ARE THEY? 45% Female

Age

65+

8%

55-64

15%

45-54

18%

35-44

22%

25-34

26%

45% Male

10% Other/ Prefer not to say

20-24 16-19

4%

93% live in the UK

1%

THEIR FRINGE EXPERIENCE 495 participants attended Fringe Academy workshops in 2019...

...a 27% increase on last year’s attendees

NEWS

36% of shows received reviews

70% of participants felt being part of Brighton Fringe was a valuable experience

Stealth Aspies PHOTO: SIOBHAN O’DRISCOLL

2019 FINANCE

INCOME

Sponsorship & Advertising: £121,695.05 Artist Registration: £122,978.36 Total Income:

£562,482.35

Box Office: £130,838.47 Charitable Grants: £136,182.19 Friends Scheme & Donations: £14,348.43 Public Funding: £34,990.00 Other Income: £1,449.85

EXPENDITURE Staffing Costs: £305,516.26 Marketing: £93,774.13 Box Office & Card Charges: £25,068.81 Events: £21,445.10 Arts Industry: £377.03

Total Expenditure:

£508,030.91

Office Overheads: £30,294.17 Professional Fees: £31,555.41 * The above figures are draft and unaudited

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS! Here at Brighton Fringe, we are immensely proud of our strong history of maintaining relationships with our sponsors and funders. We tailor each offer according to the partner to make the most of the creative aspects of each partnership. Don’t just take our word for it though, here is a testimonial from one of our longest-standing partners, The Pebble Trust, who have been supporting us for nine years now, as well as some words from Brighton Palace Pier about why they have enjoyed working with Brighton Fringe.

Brighton Fringe Principal Funder “As ever, Brighton Fringe 2019 brought the city alive and, with its diverse multitude of fantastic events, was the highlight of our year. Again, our International Touring Bursary enabled local talent to be seen on the world stage, with Brightonbased winner, ‘All I See Is You’ by Queer Street Productions, enjoying successful runs at Sydney and Melbourne Fringes.”

“It was a joy to welcome such a diverse range of visitors to the city in 2019 and to be part of Brighton Fringe. The spirit of the city is truly represented by the festival and long may it continue.”

Anne Ackroyd, CEO, Brighton Palace Pier

Louise Arnell, The Pebble Trust

PATRONS: THE PEBBLE TRUST, RICHARD JORDAN, ALI & MARK BRAITHWAITE, MARY ALLEN PRINCIPAL FUNDER

FUNDERS

KEY MEDIA PARTNERS

Red: C0 M95 Y85 K0 White: C0 M0 Y0 K0

MEDIA PARTNERS

PARTNERS

Off White: C6 M2 Y2 K0

The Thistle Trust Chalk Cliff Trust Fitton Trust

Science Nature

Red: C0 M100 Y100 K0 Black: C60 M1 Y0 K100

Off White: C6 M2 Y2 K0

SUPPORTERS

REVIEW PARTNERS

FRONT: I’d Had Enough So I Killed Him: Sherise Strang PHOTO: DANNY FITZPATRICK BACK: Gals Aloud: TuckShop PHOTO: AYLA CARLI

BRIGHTON FRINGE LTD PIER WERKS 21-22 OLD STEINE BRIGHTON, BN1 1EL 01273 764900 info@brightonfringe.org www.brightonfringe.org

Charity Number: 1116367 Company Number: 5578256 VAT Number: 892 5694 68 @brightonfringe

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