Fringe World a taste of what’s to come

MARCUS Canning thinks Perth is at a turning point, and is ready to embrace an alternative arts or fringe festival.

The Artrage director is currently in the midst of Fringe World, a single-venue taste of what Perth can expect from the first official fringe festival, to be held in 2012.

Fringe festivals are some of the most widely attended and enduring arts events of recent times, with 1.8 million tickets sold for the 60-year-old Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2010.

The Adelaide Fringe, the second largest in the world, added $35 million to that state’s economy last year.

In Adelaide, 300,000 tickets were sold and about 1.1 million people took part in the festival in some way, including free events.

Artrage hosted the first Perth fringe-style festival in 1983 on a budget of $3,000 and, after 25 years of annual Artrage celebrations, the time seemed to right to become part of the international network of fringe festivals.

“We’re at that tipping point where everyone is very excited about Perth maturing from a town into a city, and a city that has international significance for some industries,” Mr Canning said.

“Fringes engage with the most extraordinary cross-section of a population, audiences that don’t usually engage with the arts.”

“We do plan for the Perth Fringe to enter straight into the ‘one-of-the-best-in-the-world category’, and be connected with the international fringe network straight away.”

Fringe World will centre on a 106-year-old travelling wooden tent, or Spiegeltent, bought by Lotterywest from the original craftsman’s family in Belgium and installed in the Perth Cultural Centre.

Spiegeltent programs feature in most of the world’s fringe festivals, and frequently feature old-style vaudeville, burlesque and circus shows.

The WA Business News 40under40 winner said he had been scouting other city venues for the Spiegeltent, but made his decision after getting a glimpse of the new urban orchard.

“The building barriers came down and the orchard was revealed,” Mr Canning said.

“I got out with my laser measure that night and realised it fitted like the space was made for it.”

Part of the appeal of the Cultural Centre location was the chance to have an open-air bar running in the orchard for the duration of the event.

Mr Canning said while getting all the necessary permits and approvals to serve alcohol at the site took time, he had been pleasantly surprised by the city council’s reaction.

“Any new thing you do is going to have some teething programs, but every single person responsible for the permits and the licences has been so supportive of what this is trying to be,” he said.

He credits some of that support with the reputation of his organisation Artrage, which runs the Bakery venue in Northbridge and organises the annual concert program for New Year’s Eve.

But in general, Mr Canning said it sometimes seemed that those in power expected the worst, not the best, from Perth’s citizens.

“Sometimes you feel like the red tape of WA indicates a distrust of the people, like we’re all barbarian savages,” he said.

“And we’re not.”

Perth’s fringe festival will run alongside the Perth International Arts Festival, and Mr Canning described the two festivals’ relationship as a “cheeky sandpit fight”, with a mix of competition and friendship.

Fringe has had PIAF’s support from the beginning, and Mr Canning said he’d already had a couple of meetings with PIAF’s incoming artistic director Jonathan Holloway.

“We’re getting on like a house on fire and I think we’ve got a chance here to do some things together, which is going to be really exciting,” he said.

Running alongside Perth’s Fringe World will be a public summit, brining fringe experts from around the world to share the benefits the festivals can bring to a city.

“People can hear from some of the best minds in the fringe industry about what impact a fringe can have across all levels,” Mr Canning said.

“That’s economically, culturally, in terms of vibrancy, in terms of whether young people want to stay in Perth and make it their home.

“It’s about inspiration and insight, not just for artists but for anyone interested in having a lively city.”

Western Power and Little World Beverages are already two of fringe’s biggest supporters, along with Lotterywest and the state government.

Western Power will provide a jury-voted cash prize from 2012 to the best local act of the festival, providing performers with a chance to take their show to some of the world’s other fringe festivals.