There is a palpable air of excitement and anticipation currently filtering its way around the streets of Brighton, and this can only mean one thing: Brighton Fringe Festival 2010 is in town.

This is the time of the year when Brighton truly comes to life; a month on the creative calendar that differentiates Brighton from not only other major cities in England, but its European counterparts too.

For artrepublic in particular – proud and staple sponsor of visual arts for the third year running – May is also a principal month in the diary. Not only do they help elevate some of the finest and newest artistic talent Brighton has to offer, they will also be steering Sir Peter Blake’s wondrous ‘Art Bus’ into Fringe City for a second year.

As much as the Fringe focuses on contemporary talent, it is rich in history and is one of the seasoned festivals on the creative circuit. Brighton and Hove has hosted Fringe merriment since the Brighton Festivals’ creation back in 1967. For those with their memories still in tact (we all know that Brighton has a way of erasing nostalgia from our minds) it has had numerous aliases over the past 40 or so years; such as ‘Umbrella’ and ‘The Open’, but finally in 2002 ‘Brighton Festival Fringe’ became its globally-recognised name.

Brighton Festival Fringe is one of the largest, progressive open access arts festival in the world, and the largest in the England. Its aim has always been to “stimulate, educate and entertain” people with an open creative mind; however it now appeals to a far wider audience. You don’t need to be a celebrated artist or artisan to enjoy the Fringe, which is why there’s the rule of “no artistic judgement or selection criteria are imposed on participants”.

And it’s this unpretentiousness that allows Brighton Fringe to be such a success story. This year, over three captivating weeks, there will over 700 events at more than 240 venues scattered across the city. The festival is expected to pump 170,000 people through Brighton’s flowing veins and will certainly get the pulses going for many.
artrepublic’s support of the Fringe is testament to their overall support of the local, thriving art scene. Brighton is of course the Creative City or ‘Silicon Beach’ as it’s so affably referred to by the design and marketing contingent.

“artrepublic is delighted to again sponsor Visual Arts at the 2010 and this year our commitment to the festival is greater than ever,” says Andrew Milledge, Marketing Director at artrepublic. “In addition to supporting all Visual Arts, we are also sponsoring a lunch with Sir Peter Blake when he visits the city with his incredible Art Bus, plus we are encouraging new creative talent through our support of the ‘Looking Sound’ event at Riki Tiks, close to our Bond Street gallery on 22nd May. This year promises to be the most exciting fringe to date, with something for everyone to enjoy.”

Visual arts are always one of the main features of the Fringe. This year we can expect the audacious people behind Modern Toss to open eyes with their highly-anticipated 2010 Art Bucket Show. If you’re a fan of Breaks and Dub step, then the Looking Sound live show, hosted by the likes of JFB and Blackmass Plastics, will certainly scratch your dirty bass line itch.

And, of course not forgetting the pioneer of British Pop Art, Sir Peter Blake, and his double-decker Art Bus, which will be situated in the heart of the North Laines on May 15th. This is one vibrant bus you have to hop on and see.

To view some of Sir Peter Blake’s work, as well as whole host of legendary and local artists, visit www.artrepublic.com

Author Bio: Matthew Crick is writing on behalf of artrepublic. artrepublic has galleries in Soho and Brighton and specialises in online art prints. They host rare and limited edition poster art prints from some of today’s up-and-coming artists, as well as thousands of open edition art posters by world-renowned personalities. For more information visit www.artrepublic.com

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: brighton fringe 2010, brighton fringe, peter blakes art bus, brighton festival fringe