For two weeks and a bit in May, the Arts Team of Enable Leisure & Culture on behalf of Wandsworth Council presents their annual Wandsworth Arts Fringe, a festival of creative arts around the borough. Artists, performers, filmmakers, and more from London and around the globe will put on “…street performances, family workshops, exhibitions, music and dance hosted by established venues, but also encountered in the parks, charity shops, galleries, libraries, pubs and even the bakeries of Wandsworth.” From 6 through 22 May 2016.
Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016
Wandsworth Arts Fringe, formerly the Wandsworth Arts Festival, in 2013 joined over 200 international festivals incorporated by the World Fringe team. Wandsworth Fringe 2016 takes place over 17 days in May across 5 boroughs: including Balham, Putney, Tooting, Battersea, and of course, Wandsworth Town.
Click map to enlarge and see the events/venues listing.
Flipping though the catalogue (which you can pickup around Wandsworth in shops, cafes, libraries, etc.) Wandsworth Fringe currently lists over 100 events, offering things to see and do from visual art to the theatrical in local spots large and small, which means there’s probably something going on in your local library, church, or shopping centre.
As one might guess from the name, Fringe events take place in mostly unexpected places and a few caught my eye:
there’s a gypsy caravan at St Mary’s Church (Putney) where the hosts have set up an imagination story-telling “What if? machine” in which visitors can “…enjoy their 15 minutes of fame on the sofa with our chat show hosts, who will ask those all important questions…”
Another unlooked-for spot with three successive visual art exhibitions is Platform 1 Gallery – right on the platform at Wandsworth Common Rail Station. The first is “Fragments and Traces” by Kelise Franclemont and Antonia Jackson, followed by “Transcending” by Ema Mano Epps, and finally, “Fragment” by Anna Flemming.
Wandsworth Oasis in Tooting is another uncommon place for an art happening: artist-in-residence Silvia Ziranek occupies this charity shop for one-day only with a series of performances/interactions.
These are just a few of the 100-plus activities going for Wandsworth Fringe 2016, so have a look at the list of events; there’s so many options from concerts and plays to join-in activities inside delightful and creative spaces, making it a little hard to choose… Oh, and one of the other great things about Wandsworth Fringe is that so many of the shows, performances, and such are free (or nearly free) and everything is designed to be family-friendly. So check it out – there’s too much fun here to miss and it only lasts a couple weeks.
More links and info about Wandsworth Fringe 2016
- Read more, see the calendar, and sign-up for Wandsworth Fringe 2016
- Watch the 2015 Fringe Festival Launch by Chocolate Films
- Check the list of events at Wandsworth Fringe 2016 – from 6-22 May 2016 all over the borough of Wandsworth
- Previous Wandsworth Arts Festivals have included such events as “Unorthobox” (2013) from The Brick Box collective with Assemble Studio and “The Shimmy” the annual one-day mini-festival of performance along the banks of the Thames between Wandsworth Park and St Mary’s Church in Putney.
Event details: Wandsworth Fringe 2016 takes place throughout the borough of Wandsworth, London from 6 though 22 May 2016. Open to the public; many events are free.
kelise soixante-douze 