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The ninth Faversham Fringe was another successful festival, with 1,709 seats filled and multiple sold-out shows. And now the dust has settled, it’s time for some thanks.

Thank you to my tiny but mighty volunteer crew, the brilliant teams at The Alexander Centre and the Arden, and to my family (Christophe and Vexi), who spent October doing everything from front of house to tech support to catering (feeding the festival director). Special thanks to Kim Robichaud for listing the shows on the various websites and stepping in to help at the last moment on more than one occasion.

Now, if Glastonbury can let its fields rest, so can I. Except in this case, the field is not a picturesque corner of Somerset. It is me. I am the field.

After nine years of running this festival mostly alone — planning, admin, marketing, tech, finance, spreadsheets, standing behind a market stall every weekend, meeting performers, liaising with venues, absorbing complaints (very few this year!), and doing it all without funding, and while working a day job — this metaphorical field is very much depleted.

There will be no Faversham Fringe in 2026. I plan to return in 2027, once I have replenished my nutrients and fixed some nitrogen (OK, maybe I’ve gone too far with the field analogy).

In the meantime, please:

• Support local artists and venues
• Buy tickets in advance
• Volunteer if you can
• Tell people that Faversham Fringe existed and what you enjoyed about it

Thank you for nine wonderful years. You’ve been excellent. I’m off for a lie-down and some legumes.

— Ribs
Festival Director and Human Fallow Field

The Alexander Centre: Charter Room, Faversham, ME13 8NZ
Sunday 5th October 2025
5:30PM – 6:20PM
18+

Harley has turned thirty and that is terrifying, actually. So they wrote a show about it. Described as “surprisingly good”, come and join them in an exploration of what this milestone age means through comedy, a PowerPoint, and some poems they’d never want their mum to hear.

Trigger warning: discussions of sexual content and suicide.

Quick! You’ve only got until midnight tonight, July 31st, to get your applications in for this year’s Faversham Fringe! And yes, that’s plenty of time to complete the form, so get to it!

We’re hoping for any/all of the following: new writing, musicals, stand-up, sketch comedy, cabaret, poetry, mentalism, and improvisation (not an exhaustive list, so if your particular thing isn’t on it, don’t let that put you off applying). Please bear in mind that most of the venues are small – maximum audience of 20-40 – and while they have sound and lighting, it’s fairly basic. There is no stage, backstage area, wings, curtains etc. Also, no piano.

Faversham Fringe takes place from Thursday, October 5th to Saturday, October 28th. At the time of writing, we have 3 venues on board: The Alex (function room), The Guildhall (yes, that building on stilts), and the Arden Theatre (98-seat theatre). We are in negotiations with other venues, so there may be more to follow.

We programme shows into the most appropriate space, but you can state a preference on the application form. We try to reserve the Arden Theatre for plays that really need an actual theatre to work.

Faversham Fringe is not run for profit – we charge a registration fee to cover the costs of hiring the venue, front-of-house staff and publicity. The registration fee for each show remains a very reasonable £35. Registration fees are payable upon confirmation of entry into the Faversham Fringe programme.

The registration fee covers a single performance. Given that Faversham is a small town, we don’t recommend doing more than one performance. Better to have one full show, than two sparsely attended ones.

The registration fee covers entry to the printed programme, online listings, social media coverage, performance space with PA, a front-of-house volunteer to assist with audience seating (and tech if your needs are basic), and space in our flyer display boxes (you will have to supply the flyers).

We have decided to go for a fully ticketed model this year. Ticket revenue will be split 80:20 in your favour. Tickets will be priced at £6 each by default, but you can opt to charge more.

Made your mind up? Good – here’s the application form and Ts&Cs: https://favershamfringe.co.uk/take-part-in-faversham-fringe