Okay, that's enough procrastination. It's time to start thinking about next year's fringe season, and the big one will be plans for Durham Free Fringe 2026. When we wrapped up this year we'd pretty much decided we were going to do this, but decided very little else about how this would work. Well, we've finally got our heads together to start making plans. And the first decision we have to make is who's going to be operating this.
As I've mentioned several times before, 2025 was always intended to be a small and manageable season, so it was two of us (Aadil Kurji and myself) doing all the things between us, from top-level decision making to petty admin. Does this make sense for future years? To be honest, we don't know. The size of Durham Free Fringe is heavily dependent on demand, and whilst we have some influence with how heavily we publicise our call for participants, we have no idea how much demand is out there. It could remain as a small niche operation, or it grow to a big network of venues like the Free Fringe organisations in Edinburgh do. Only one thing is for certain: even with the low-budget low-resource model we use, there's only a finite number of acts two people can oversee.
So we've had a discussion and we're ready to share our first decisions for our plans next year.
Our first decision is that, for next year, governance remains unchanged. Aadil and myself will continue to make decisions between us. Of course, we are always listening for how you think this should be run, and if you have any views on how you'd like this to work, please reach out to us. After Durham Free Fringe 2026, we will review this arrangement again.
Our second decision, however, is something new. Our decision in principle is that we want Durham Free Fringe to be run by artists. There are many different ways fringe venues work, all of which are valid, but the advantage of venues run by artists for artists is that the people doing the work have hands-on experience of understanding the aspiration and struggles of the people taking part.
As such, from next year, if you want to perform with us, you will also be welcome and encouraged to help out with the wider event. Exactly how this works depends on what people think they have to offer. Maybe you can operate sound cues on another show, maybe you can help us with publicity, or maybe you just have a bunch of friends you can bring along to support some acts - whatever you think you can do, we're interested. To be clear, however, this is entirely optional. If you just want to do your own show, that's also fine, and this won't count against you we're doing programming. If you performed with us this year - you're welcome to get involved whether or not you're planning a follow-up next year.
For prospective volunteers who are not performers: for the time being, we are still encouraging you to volunteers for Durham Fringe instead of us. This isn't because we don't want you, but because we want to avoid a team getting too large and unwieldy until we have a better idea of how this works for us. But, again, if, whatever reason, you specifically want to work with us, let us know and we'll see what we can do.
If you're waiting for news on how to apply, be patient. We won't be starting programming until the New Year. But in the meantime, if you want to contact us for whatever reason - be it feedback, interest in performing, or offers to help you - contact us at hello@durhamfreefringe.org.uk and we'll get back to you.
Postscript: Finally: yes, know. I am continuing to use my website for Durham Free Fringe updates when we have a proper free fringe website now. Please bear with us - properly configuring that site beyond a one-page job is on our list of things to do, but we're both currently ridiculously busy in our day jobs. We hope to soon have all the key information over there.