Jam-packed Wellington Fringe Festival after even more shows

  • Breaking
  • 20/02/2015

It was at Wellington's Fringe Festival that acts like Flight of the Conchords were discovered way back in the day.

Now, there are 120 different acts over three weeks - that's more than twice the number at the Fringe Festival in Auckland - and there are nearly as many shows in this year's festival as there are shows across Wellington for the whole year.

So how on earth does little old Wellington fill twice as many Fringe shows as big fat Auckland? The organisers say it's simple - Wellingtonians know what the Fringe is and they just go.

But some viewers - particularly those in Auckland - might be wondering what is the Fringe anyway?

Well, it's a place for the weird and wonderful to get to try out anything on the stage.

Established companies like Footnote Dance - which is celebrating its 30th year - rely on the Fringe Festival to test out new work and new talent.

The festival is all about variety, and one performer, Axel Evans, is making his Fringe debut in a show written and performed by young people with intellectual impairment.

The organisers say if you think 120 shows are too many for Wellington, well, think again. They want even more next year because the most famous  - the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - has 9000 shows, and their population is about the same as Wellington's.

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source: newshub archive