Festivals

Edinburgh Fringe has partnered up with production company Nouveau Riche in a bid to make the festival “more inclusive and accessible” for Black and global majority artists.

The partnership follows a ‘call to action’ issued by the production company last year, in which it expressed its “distress and frustration” at the lack of progress towards “inclusion and anti-racism at the festival”.

Nouveau Riche will “build and manage a network for fringe participants who identify as Black and/or global majority”, at this year’s festival, the Stage reported.

The company will also work with the Fringe Society to provide resources for Black and global majority artists and gather feedback that will be used to build on the partnership in future years.

“There has historically been limited support available for Black and/or global majority artists taking part in fringe, and the Fringe Society acknowledges that this needs to change,” said Chris Snow, the Fringe Society’s Head of Artist Services.

“For real change to happen, it is vital that the Fringe Society, venues and producers work with partners like Nouveau Riche to understand how we can all support the festival to become more inclusive and accessible.”

Nouveau Riche is “one of the few black-led companies who head to the festival consistently and this is because there is little to no support for our communities,” said the company’s Senior Producer Sarah Jordan Verghese.

“I was delighted when the Fringe Society contacted us about a possible partnership to support the well-being and welfare of artists of colour heading to the festival,” she added.

“It’s important that we are listening to our communities and their experiences to shape the festival into a welcoming, safe and inclusive place for us.”
 

Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted the opening night of the BBC Proms, setting off confetti cannons and sounding air horns before being removed from the stage.

The Independent reports that the protesters attempted to address the audience at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday (14 July), drawing boos from the crowd.

The environmental group tweeted that the action was "in response to the BBC’s underwhelming coverage of the climate emergency". 

"In recent weeks, the BBC has been accused of ‘false balance’ as well as uncritically regurgitating government and oil company propaganda."

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer tweeted: “Eco zealots shouldn’t disrupt sports events, weddings or the Proms.

“My message is this: Leave people to enjoy the events they love, and stop damaging your own cause.”

South Asian Arts Organisation Worcester Mela has shared details of a project set to reveal the "hidden stories" of the city's South Asian migrant communities.

The Melting Pot project, which has been awarded £48,000 of National Lottery funding by Arts Council England, will highlight and explore the role of South Asian migrants in 'the great industrial factories of Worcester'.

It will focus on real life stories from workers at companies including Lea & Perrins, Metal Box, Metal Castings and Royal Worcester.

The project, which will include a series of workshops with factory workers and their family, will span 18 months, before a final multi-disciplinary performance will take place at Worcester Mela’s first annual festival in September 2024.

Worcester Mela vice-chair Anjali Fowler, who led on the funding bid, said: "It's very exciting to be able to tell the hidden stories of South Asian migrant communities in Worcester, and work with them to create a performance that I am certain will inspire and delight audiences".

A temporary arts space named Beacon will form part of Bradford City of Culture 2025 plans, it has emerged.

Organisers are looking for architects to design a performance space made from sustainable materials, that can be dismantled and easily transported and re-installed at a number of sites. The project has a budget of around £500,000.

"The intention behind Beacon is for it to have sustainability at its heart, to celebrate Bradford’s cultural heritage and to reflect its diverse, cosmopolitan communities," competition documents issued by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of Bradford 2025 state. 

"The venue will facilitate and promote meaningful interchange between communities."

While specific locations for Beacon have not been finalised yet, organisers are looking at parks in the heart of communities, where residential areas butt up against perimeter of the green space.

Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford 2025, said: "It’s crucial that our year as City of Culture reaches every corner of Bradford district and Beacon will be just one of the ways we do that. 

"This new peripatetic venue will be an incredible space for people to get together, to show off the creativity of our district as well as taking spectacular events and performances to a wider Bradford audience."

A music festival in Essex has been cancelled due to escalating production costs.

The BBC reports that artists including Bastille, James Bay, Clean Bandit, Texas and Freya Ridings were due to perform at the Hideaway Festival at Crix near Chelmsford.

A statement put out by the organisers said they had encountered "numerous challenges", including escalating production costs and the prevailing cost of living crisis. 

"Despite our best efforts, we are unable to meet the costs associated with delivering a top-quality event on such a large scale," the statement said.

"We also did not feel that it was the right choice to pass on expenses onto our valued customers and raise ticket prices further. Consequently, we have had to cancel this event."

A music and arts festival in the grounds of a historic country house in Perthshire has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

The organisers of the Otherlands Music and Arts Festival at Scone Palace, Perth also cited rising production costs and the loss of grant funding as reasons for pulling the plug on three-day event planned for 11-13 August.

Describing the decision as "devastating" and "heart-breaking", they said in a statement they were "absolutely gutted that we could not make the festival a reality this year".

The statement continued: "An independent festival comes with a whole host of challenges and despite doing everything we can, we are unable to deliver the show to the high standard it needs to be, and therefore it is no longer viable to continue".

The announcement comes as the Association of Indepedent Festivals says the costs associated with putting on an event are becoming "untenable" for indepedent festivals.

This year would have been the second outing for the festival, which took place for the first time in August 2022.

The festival has committed to refunding all ticket holders within 14 days.