The Malvern Fringe Festival was an arts festival (founded 1977) which took place in

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The main events of the Malvern Fringe Festival were the annual Malvern

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

and parade, and the annual three-day festival held in June as a fringe to the

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Festival. These were often accompanied by musical and other live events throughout the year.

History

Malvern Fringe Festival was founded in 1977 by Adrian Mealing, a teacher in Malvern, in collaboration with Andrew Sleigh, Ian Fearnside and Phil Webb. It originated as a reaction to the Malvern Festival which was perceived to be biased towards classical music and appealing towards a national and international audience rather than a local one. A further concern was the continued requirement for the local Council to underwrite the main festival and the feeling that the public expenditure could be more wisely spent. The founding aims of the Fringe were to produce a popular, varied programme of events for the local people of Malvern, to bridge the gap between the "us" and "them" in the arts and to "shake it up a bit in Malvern". The first year featured 60 events consisting of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, world music,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, adult and children's theatre performed under the banner of "Associated Events" due to the main Festival's objections to the term 'Fringe', which they considered to be "outside" of the Festival. In 1978, to avoid confusion between the programmes for the two festivals, printed with similar designs at the main festival's insistence, Adrian Mealing hand wrote "Fringe" on over 3000 programmes. As the 1980s approached, the festival grew into a four-week event and the Fringe had established its own identity. Being centrally located between Hereford,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and Cheltenham the Fringe drew a wide audiences from over a 20-mile radius. During the 1980s, the festival attracted hundreds of visitors with a programme of 120 events over a two-week period. In 1982, Malvern Fringe Arts Ltd became a registered charity. By the 1990s, the Fringe programme had grown to a six-week event and was attracting comedy and cabaret acts that were beginning to establish their reputations, including

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

, Lee Evans,

Jerry Sadowitz Jerry Sadowitz (born June 1961) is an American-born Scottish stand-up comedian and magician. Notorious for his frequently controversial brand of black comedy, Sadowitz has said that audiences going to see a comedian should suspend their beliefs ...

Jim Tavare Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

, Chris Lynam and a double act featuring Linda Smith and

Mark Thomas Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, presenter, political satirist, and journalist. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' in the late 1980s. He is ...

, plus musical acts as varied as

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, Juicy Lucy,

Voodoo Queens The Voodoo Queens were a North London-based indie punk/riot grrrl band, who reached number one in the Indie Charts in 1993. History The band was composed of Anjali Bhatia (guitar, vocals), Ella Guru (guitar, backing vocals), Stefania 'Steffi ...

and Loop Guru. In 2006 the Fringe re-launched its three-day festival in June, loosely based upon a theme of Elgar's interests. One of the highlights of this festival was a bicycle race (as cycling was one of Elgar's keen interests) up the steep incline of Great Malvern's Church Street. This event was supported by Commonwealth games gold medalist Liam Killeen, who's from Malvern, and was won by Tour de France cyclist, Arnaud Lenoir. The whole three-day festival was attended by over 5,000 people. In the autumn of 2006, the Fringe launched a 'folk weekend' featuring Roy Bailey (folk singer), Roy Bailey and Jez Lowe.

Malvern May Day

The Malvern May Day and Parade are an annual community event which has been held in Priory Park, Great Malvern on the Saturday before the May Bank Holiday since 1993.

Local controversy

Despite an attendance of over 5,000 people the June 2006 festival has been the subject of much negative coverage in the letters pages of the local newspaper with one correspondent calling upon readers to petition the local Member of Parliament to halt any further Fringe activities.

Notable past performers

Throughout its history Malvern Fringe featured an impressive array of performers, many of whom have gone on to become international stars.

Classical

*Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet *National Youth Recorder Orchestra *Edwin Roxburgh and the Hendrickse Flute Quartet

Music

*3 Daft Monkeys *Daevid Allen *Roy Bailey (folk singer), Roy Bailey *Bhundu Boys *Caravan (band), Caravan *Lol Coxhill *Fred Zeppelin *

*Gordon Giltrap *The Groundhogs *Left, Right and Centre (featuring Nigel Kennedy and Caleb) * Juicy Lucy *Kroke *Jez Lowe *Jim MacCool *Loop Guru *Moishe's Bagel *Rory McLeod (singer-songwriter), Rory McLeod and Tymon Dogg *Moonshake *Ozric Tentacles *Hazel O'Connor *Pantagruel (ensemble), Pantagruel *Prophets of Da City *Surgeon (musician), Surgeon *Suns of Arqa *June Tabor and Huw Warren *Tarika (musical group), Tarika Sammy *Barbara Thompson (musician), Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia *

*The Wurzels *Zion Train

Dance

Lousie Tonkin
and Lol Coxhill

Poetry

*Dannie Abse, Dannie and Joan Abse *Jim MacCool *John Cooper Clarke *John Hegley *Adrian Henri *Michael Horovitz and Stan Tracey *Frances Horovitz and Pete Morgan *Joolz Denby, Joolz *Linton Kwesi Johnson *Ian McMillan (poet), Ian McMillan *Dick McBride (poet), Dick McBride *Roger McGough *Henry Normal *Lemn Sissay *Gabriel Woolf

Comedy

*Rowan Atkinson *Jo Brand *Jack Dee *Jenny Eclair * Lee Evans *Jeremy Hardy *

*The Kipper Family *Mark Lamarr *Al Murray *

* Linda Smith and

*Mark Steel *

Literature

*Romesh Gunesekera

Theatre

*The Oxford Revue, Oxford University Revue *The Theatre of Small Convenience

References

{{Fringe festivals in Europe Spring festivals Malvern, Worcestershire Culture in Worcestershire Fringe festivals in the United Kingdom Charities based in Worcestershire Festivals in Worcestershire Music festivals established in 1977 Theatre festivals in England