By Prisca Sam-Duru

The 2019 edition of the Lagos Fringe International Festival scheduled to take place from 19th till 24th November, 2019 at various venues across the city of Lagos, will be exciting over two thousand visitors from across the globe with breathtaking shows.

The week-long festival holding in partnership with Multichoice Nigeria, British Council Nigeria, Freedom Park and the Alliance Francaise, will bring together participants from Senegal, UK, South Africa, Canada, Brazil, Ghana, Portugal and Nigeria.

The programme will include an official festival launch Ceremony, Live shows and Plays, Panel Discussions, Playwriting classes, screening of short films & documentary films selected from local and international film makers. The film screenings and performances will be free to the public between 19 & 20 November 2019. It also features the Lagos Fringe Market and the amazing Fringe Kids.

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The second edition of the multidisciplinary open access arts festival is scheduled to take place in 2 separate venues; the first is the Alliance Francaise/Mike Adenuga Centre which will present a programme curated with the idea to celebrate Women in the Arts and Creative Transitions for the Performing arts/culture in Lagos.

The second venue will be Freedom Park. And it is segmented into 15 mini venues which will present a very exciting programme that includes seminars and conference on topics regarding Arts & Health with Julian Caddy CEO Brighton Fringe, Rea Mokone; A Representative from the festival’s partner Vrystaat Arts Festival South Africa and the British Council. The British Council will also serve as venue for the festival.

The discussions will tackle practices which bring together the skills of both Arts & Health professionals. The venue will also be a home to Film screenings(such as AUGUST MEETING; a story on the famous Aba Women’s Revolt) and performances in Music, Spoken Word, Games, Talent shows, Alternative Music Concert, Comedy and Plays from 21 to 24 November 2019. More fascinating is the Talent Hunt show which has been designed for young ones with rare talents. The winner goes home with a cash prize of 200,000 naira which correlates with the main idea of the festival which is empowerment.

While briefing the press, the Festival Director, Kenneth Uphopho disclosed that the 2019 Lagos Fringe Festival will also be presenting Awards to deserving members of the creative industry who have distinguished themselves as advocates in their respective fields.

“The members of the Lagos Fringe Advisory Board are the Jury which will review all the shortlisted candidates– that are in-competition and announce the winners of the Lagos Fringe Awards at the Official Launch Ceremony. There is also a cash prize to be won at the Lagos Fringe CentreStage Open Mic talent show.

The goal of the prize is to raise awareness for the festival and inspire standards for young aspiring local performers.” He said.

Also, the Fringe Producer, Brenda Fashugba stated that the organisation is revolutionizing the creative industry with the introduction of the Lagos Fringe CentreStage talent show. “From our early days of developing the theatre festival till now, our objectives have been reinforced on the development of capacity and education for the young and aspiring creative. We encourage collaboration and co-creation among artistes, professional and amateurs.

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We are focused on fostering a community of daring creatives that will lead the world in innovation in the arts and consistently create breathtaking experiences across all genres.” She added that while the Fringe festival establishes the phenomenon of unconventional spaces, of which the dynamic nature of Freedom Park helps to achieve, it most importantly, promotes the sustainability of the artistes.

Vanguard