The first time I met Maria was while volunteering at Ouseburn Festival, the second time was a lot less of a fleeting meeting, as we both joined Curated Place’s Creative Producer Course. She introduced me to the Durham Fringe Festival, and from the moment she mentioned it I knew that I wanted to experience the festival and take part, in one way or another. I ended up applying to host a showcase and got in, I got two hour long slots at the festival on the Palace Green, right in front of Durham’s stunning cathedral. There isn’t a more solemn, beautiful and inspiring place to organise a showcase, or at least, I haven’t found one yet…
On Wednesday the 29th of July Tim Gambles and Joe Doonan shared the stage, as they share a band, inspirations and friendship groups, and they curated an hour long set made up of their own musical catalogues. A brilliant tech team made sure the sound and lightning was spot on, and an attentive audience filled the tent and brought the atmosphere we needed for an early Wednesday evening in July. Afterwards we all stayed for a drink at the Durham Fringe bar on the green, and enjoyed the summer evening slowing down on us. The next day, on Thursday the 30th of July, alternative rock outfit Abnorm took the stage. The four brought a very different atmosphere to the Palace Green, yet it was just as magical.
Great sound and lightning once again, and another incredible audience listening to the band’s fantastic rock tracks made for another wonderful evening. Durham well and truly showed up, surprised me, welcomed us all, and made me instantly want to return for more. Aside from a wonderful location that will be very hard to beat, the team that organised the festival, the creatives that ran a plethora of shows across all artforms, and the audiences that showed up, made for an incredible experience, one we hopefully will be able to keep experiencing for the foreseeable future.
Thank you, Durham Fringe Festival.
LLIVELY Music 