UNDER EMBARGO TILL 6am 9 FEBRUARY 2017

DUNEDIN FRINGE FESTIVAL LAUNCHES SPECTACULAR 2017 PROGRAMME

Close to 100 people gathered at the Underground Market last night for the launch of the Dunedin Fringe Festival 2017 programme, where details of this year’s acts, artists and events were revealed. Tickets are now on sale for the more than 70 events making up the Festival’s eleven day season (9-19 March), which will once again open with its highly anticipated annual preview event, the Polson Higgs Opening Night Showcase, at the Dunedin Town Hall on the evening of 8 March.

Guests were keen to get their hands on copies of the freshly printed Fringe Guide, which hits streets across Dunedin today. With page after page of international acts, local greats, and fresh up-and-coming talent, Fringe 2017 promises to be extraordinary.

Festival Director Josh Thomas was pleased with the response to the programme’s release. “We’ve been keeping the details of this year’s Fringe under wraps, but our excitement and anticipation has made it pretty hard,” he says. “I enjoy this moment each year; it’s the point when we get to share our excitement, throw the doors open and invite everyone to dive into Fringe.”

Continuing the Festival’s established kaupapa to celebrate innovation, diversity and emerging artists, Fringe 2017 covers the spectrum of creative practice. This year, Fringe features acts from across Aotearoa and around the world; including artists from Japan, India, Australia and the UK.

Ōtepoti artists are front and centre, including award-winning verbatim theatre makers Talking House, who will make a highly anticipated return to their hometown. Fringe 2017 boasts the world premiere of their ambitious multimedia spoken-word concerto, Alive in Berlin. The Dunedin/Los Angeles collaboration Anything Could Happen will re-imagine lost moments in the history of the Dunedin sound in a playful recreation of Roy Colbert's legendary vinyl haven, Records Records . Hit alt-craft workshop Frankenfoot also reappears in 2017, inviting everyday people to get hands-on and breathe new life into old soles.

Following its hugely successful debut last year, Josh Thomas is especially pleased to announce the return of the newly-sponsored Emerson’s Festival Club. “The Club has a very special atmosphere, a buzz that gets right to the heart of what Fringe is all about,” he explains. “You can feel it as soon as you come through the doors. It only has a year’s history behind it, but the Club has already encapsulated a lot of the spirit of Dunedin Fringe.” A home and a hub for audiences and artists alike, the Emerson’s Festival Club opens its doors at 20 Princes Street every night of the Festival for 6.00pm and 8.00pm shows followed by late-night mooching until 1.00am. A bar, venue and cosmic glade cabaret space, the Club also hosts special curated late-night music each Thursday, Friday and Saturdaynight.

Heading into its 17th year, Dunedin Fringe’s programme and audience are growing, with more than 10,000 people attending events in 2016 and the upcoming Festival showing a 24% increase in events compared to last year.

WHAT: DUNEDIN FRINGE FESTIVAL

DATES: 9 - 19 MARCH 2017

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FROM:

FRINGE HQ: 26 PRINCES STREET, DUNEDIN

ONLINE: WWW.DUNEDINFRINGE.NZ

ENDS

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