Ilkley to get 'utterly unofficial' festival fringe (From Ilkley Gazette)

Ilkley to get 'utterly unofficial' festival fringe

7:30am Saturday 29th August 2009

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A poet is throwing open the doors to an unrestricted new Ilkley festival, inviting musicians, artists and anyone else who wants to join in to sign up.

The Ilkley Uncut Fringe, as Bradford poet and writer Glyn Watkins calls it, will not vet any of its acts, and allows anyone who would like to hold an event in Ilkley to declare it part of the festival.

The ‘utterly unofficial’ event is scheduled for the first half of October, at around the same time as the prestigious Ilkley Literature Festival which attracts big-name writer and personalities, and runs its own Fringe.

Emulating the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Ilkley Uncut Fringe will publicise, but will not regulate, events signed up to the cause, except to ask that organisers try to avoid clashes with other Uncut Fringe events.

Best known for walking around the town centre bearing a large meat and potato pie, Glyn, 48, of Little Horton, says the idea stemmed from previous events he has held in Ilkley.

“The Ilkley Festival Uncut Fringe grew out of the Curry and Kipling Show I did in Ilkley on National Poetry Day several years ago, but it is just a happy coincidence that it is happening at the same time as the literary festival,” said Glyn.

“The literary festival is a credit to the organisers, and to Ilkley, but there are a fair number of unused venues, and oppor-tunities for people to do things on their own initiative.”

Glyn’s own JB Priestley Night, at The Riverside Hotel on Sunday, September 13, starting at 7pm, is a celebration of Priestley’s work and birthday, accompanied by a meat and potato pie, in honour of a pie shop Priestley spoke of during a wartime broadcast which had apparently survived an air raid to keep serving up the local delicacy.

The founder of Priestley Night will be out and about in the coming weeks – complete with his pie – to muster support for the event.

Leeds band The Bacchae hope to put on a gig as part of the Fringe.

The Uncut Fringe will not rule out any type of event, however, says Glyn, be it a bracken bashing day, a Ford Zodiac cavalcade or a celebration of Peter Tinniswood’s Uncle Mort.

Events signed up will feature in Fringe publicity. The festival cannot pay people to put on events, but they are free to charge their own entry fees.

More information about the Ilkley Uncut Fringe can be found online at bradwan.co.uk. Tickets for the JB Priestley Night, are available from Ilkley Pets, Leeds Road.

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