PETWORTH FRINGE
After 10 years
Arthur Bullard and Pete Drummond
are hanging up their producer hats and coats
In Autumn 2014 Arthur Bullard, Pete Drummond and Andrew Carrington decided that to compliment Petworth’s hugely successful Festival the town would benefit from a Fringe as well. They possessed little idea of what was involved, in this case their ignorance was bliss, but ploughed ahead anyway and in July 2015 the first Petworth Fringe (PetFringe as it was known in those days) went ahead.
Unlike other more notable fringes, e.g. Edinburgh, Brighton, these chaps were the producers and given that this meant the financial risk rested with the Fringe itself it is testament to Arthur’s careful husbandry and Pete’s luck in finding a generous sponsor for the first three years that the Fringe has remained solvent throughout including, annoyingly, paying some tax.
From inception until September 2024 they have staged a staggering 212 shows/performances, started a community choir, given birth to a nationwide stand-up comedy competition that still awards the UK’s largest prize for comedy - the British Comedian of the Year and were co-founders of the tremendous Petworth Sessions which continues to bring extraordinary musicians to the town.
The breadth of the shows they have put on is extraordinary: from introducing Petworth to Burlesque (Boy-lesque was a low in taste terms)
to live opera, from children and baby shows to raucous comedy nights, from poetry to rock legends, from mini-festivals to one-actor plays the Petworth Fringe has dipped its toes in them all.
However, none of this would have been possible without the loyal, trusting and enthusiastic support of the purchasers of thousands of tickets who kept coming to show, after show, after show. The producers’ gratitude to this part of the team cannot be measured.
Andrew left in 2020 and lately Arthur and Pete felt they’ve put in a sufficiently good shift:
the Fringe is an established Petworth, small ‘f’, festival and has remained true to its three main strands: comedy, drama and music and entertained in a fringe-like way - not chaotic but perhaps, at times, rough around the edges. It was time to find fresh blood to run the show(s), inject new enthusiasm and build on the solid foundations.
Step forward the Petworth Festival who from an initial annoyance at the unruly upstart now appreciate the opportunity to bring different performers to Petworth that might not sit comfortably under the Festival banner.
Arthur and Pete wish the new team all the success in the world and hope that they continue to build Petworth Fringe long into the future.
Please be as supportive of the new team
as you have been for the last 10 years
Some small print: as part of the handover of the Fringe to the new managers, the mailing list of past customers will also be handed over; if you do not want your name amongst these please email petworthfringe@gmail.com or, alternatively, unsubscribe from the next email you receive.