London Festival Fringe

Inspired by the Edinburgh Festival, the first London Festival Fringe comes to the capital this August promising to celebrate performing arts from all over the world in a range of venues across the whole city. The festival is the new guise of last year's London Bridge Festival and shouldn't be confused with the more established Camden Fringe which also takes place in August. The programme is being developed daily - it's open-access so anyone can put on a show, exhibition or event provided they find a willing venue - and includes comedy, music, film, literature, visual-art, theatre, spoken word and dance. Buskers and street performers are also being encouraged with a range of street events and one-off gigs throughout the festival. Given last year's event in London Bridge (and Camden's separate fringe event), the main focus will probably be stay south of the river in SE1 - although a cluster of smaller West End theatres are in talks to host events, while many Soho haunts are signing up. There are a number of London Awards to be given out - including best 48 Hour Short Film, Photography and New Comedy - through August for each event category and anyone can enter. With the festival growing at an alarming pace and more and more performers joining day by day, the best way to keep your finger on the pulse is to visit www.londonfestivalfringe.com. It remains to be seen if the distinctive and intimate vibe of Edinburgh can be recreated on the busy streets and disparate venues of London - our suspicion is that it cannot.