Brighton Fringe starts with a bang

Fireworks launched from St Peter's Church marked the start of this year's Brighton Fringe last night (May 4).
Fringe fireworks (Photograph: Rebecca Fitzgerald)Fringe fireworks (Photograph: Rebecca Fitzgerald)
Fringe fireworks (Photograph: Rebecca Fitzgerald)

More than 3,500 people gathered at The Warren, Brighton Fringe’s largest pop-up festival site, to watch the spectacle.

The city’s Mayor Pete West led the countdown in a live video link-up with Paris, where he is beginning the Paris to Brighton bike ride to raise funds for charity.

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Revellers enjoyed walkabout entertainment from Warren acts including Cabaret From The Shadows, Zach & Viggo & The Establishment.

The Warren (Photograph: Rebecca Fitzgerald)The Warren (Photograph: Rebecca Fitzgerald)
The Warren (Photograph: Rebecca Fitzgerald)

Nicola Haydn, artistic director of production company Otherplace Brighton, which runs The Warren, said it was a suitably colourful start to four weeks of festivities.

“It’s impossible to be bored in Brighton during May,” she sais. “There’s just so much going on. Here at The Warren we’ve got 800 performances taking place across our four venues, from cabaret to comedy, theatre to storytelling and much more. We can’t wait to share it all with our brilliant audiences.”

Julian Caddy, Brighton Fringe managing director, said: “For a festival as significant as Brighton Fringe has now become it’s such a great thing to have a big launch to set it on its way. I think The Warren is the perfect place for the opening event to happen. The fact the fireworks came from the top of a church made for a night that felt almost supernatural.”

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