The North East's first fringe festival
While working as Northumbria Drama Societies Marketing President, I was looking for ways to encourage more people to attend the shows. As an amateur company, getting the public to take interest was an uphill struggle and we frequently performed to audiences less than 10. I thought it would be good to make a bigger event with more things such as music, comedy, dance and art to attract the public and thus, The Canny Fringe was born.
Edinburgh Fringe is very expensive to do and it stops many wannabe performers from attending so I was keen to make this festival accessible for all and a great networking event for all the talent in the North East.
I was still at university so I decided to use this as my final major project for my degree. I knew it was a risk, my classmates only had to design hypothetical brands whereas I had the added pressure of actually organising an entire festival single-handedly. But it was a success and has grown from a 2 day festival with 3 venues, to a 6 day festival spread across the whole of Newcastle, the 2nd largest inner city festival in the North, beaten only by Hit the North.
We booked bands such as Judas, Mouses how performed on the mainstage at Reading and Leeds fesitval the same year, and Super Furry Animals. We held the event the year after I founded it in the same location, but with added venues, then in the 3rd year split off from the university and re-branded as 3rd Time Lucky Festival.
