Morecambe Fringe Festival to be streamed into people's homes during the coronavirus pandemic

Morecambe Fringe Festival will be streamed into people’s homes this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Matt Panesh, director of Morecambe Fringe Festival at last year's Fringe. Photo: I Photography.Matt Panesh, director of Morecambe Fringe Festival at last year's Fringe. Photo: I Photography.
Matt Panesh, director of Morecambe Fringe Festival at last year's Fringe. Photo: I Photography.

Festival director Matt Panesh has also learned that the Morecambe Fringe Festival has been shortlisted for this year’s Sunshine Awards.

Matt Panesh said: “It was a real beam of joy in these trying times. A lot of our sister festivals, including Edinburgh, have postponed.

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“We’re taking a different tack though. We have partnered with New York’s Frigid Fringe to stream our festival into peoples homes.

“The entire festival will be live streamed.

“The dates and times of shows will be adjusted so that we have a single live feed.

“It will be available on YouTube, Facebook and so on.

“All shows will be free and people will be able to donate directly to the artists as they did at the last years festival.

“The West End Playhouse will have facilities to stream, so acts can do it from there. Or if in isolation, from their homes and we will host the feed. Some shows will be pre recorded, such as the panel discussions.

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“We’ve put in funding applications with the Arts Council England to develop our Playhouse (in Morecambe’s West End) into a studio, able to record peoples work, observing social distancing conditions, and upload to New York where it will be hosted.

“But there’s no guarantees. “They’re under immense pressure.

“ Covid 19 has cut a swathe through the culture sector.

“We really need sponsors to come forward and help that work and make this festival a success.

“It can be any company or charity, great if they were local with a world view. Please get in touch.”

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New York’s Frigid Fringe Director Erez Ziv said: “One of the positives to have come out of this whole thing has been catching up with friends and peers.

“When Matt told me his idea, I immediately offered help. We’re in a whole new world, and it’ll take everyone’s generosity to get through.”

The Morecambe Fringe Festival will run from July 10 to August 2. Matt Panesh can be contacted at [email protected].

Visit Morecambe Fringe on Facebook for more details.

As the world is in the midst of mass separation, the global fringe movement has joined forces to share their vision of a new way of being and a future back together.

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A spokesman said: “Sustaining a cohesive creative community is at the forefront of our Fringe Festivals ethos.

“We aim to mitigate risks for artists and support the creative ecology, during this time, by using our access to local communities.

“As the period of adjustment moves to recovery, Fringe Festivals will utilise skills and connections to rebuild economic growth and access to presenting work.

"Fringe Festivals will continue to offer artists and all those involved, access to stabilising conversation and an open door to innovation.

“The Fringe Festivals worldwide pledge is to be generous of spirit by giving time and energy, and a platform of support to re-aggregate and rebuild our creative society”.