Welcome 2024 Durham Fringe Festival performers! We are thrilled to have you on board with us for our fourth year of DFF. This page contains information you will need, including a timeline of key dates, marketing and social media tips, useful logos for your promotional material, and an FAQ section.

Details of participating venues can be found here.

All applications to take part are made through a third party, Eventotron, who manage applications for us.

KEY DATES

NO LATER THAN…
5 Days After Contract Signed £100 Deposit paid to Fringe
APRIL 15th 2024 FOR PRINT
MAY 26th 2024 Notify Fringe of any music used in your show N.B. you must notify us even if no music is used or you will be charged at top rate
MAY 26th 2024 Completed Tech Specs form to be sent to Fringe Via Eventotron
JUNE 16th 2024 Names, roles and photos (jpg) of each member of your company sent to Fringe Via Eventotron. These are required to produce backstage passes. Please only include performers and crew.
JUNE 30th 2024 Public Liability Insurance certificate to be sent to Fringe Via Eventotron. You will not be allowed to perform if this has not been provided
JUNE 30th 2024 PAT testing can be contentious, depending upon the venue; life is much easier if  you forward valid, i.e. legitimate and in date PAT testing certificates, for all mains voltage equipment you will be using. If there is a specific issue in complying eg. equipment rented or borrowed for the shows then please discuss this with [email protected]
Without these you may not be allowed to use the relevant equipment when you arrive at the venue.

NO LATER THAN…

£100 Deposit paid to Fringe
FOR PRINT?
Notify Fringe of any music used in your show

N.B. you must notify us even if no music is used or you will be charged at top rate

Completed Tech Specs form to be sent to Fringe

Via Eventotron

Names, roles and photos (jpg) of each member of your company sent to Fringe

Via Eventotron. These are required to produce backstage passes. Please only include performers and crew.

Public Liability Insurance certificate to be sent to Fringe

Via Eventotron. You will not be allowed to perform if this has not been provided

PAT testing can be contentious, depending upon the venue; life is much easier if  you forward valid, i.e. legitimate and in date PAT testing certificates, for all mains voltage equipment you will be using.
If there is a specific issue in complying eg. equipment rented or borrowed for the shows then please discuss this with [email protected]
Without these you may not be allowed to use the relevant equipment when you arrive at the venue.

We would also highlight

Technical Rehearsal: We will use our best endeavours to give you up to 1 hour for a technical rehearsal at a time to be notified to you separately by us or the Venue.

Get in / Get out Time: You will be allowed 10 minutes prior to each show for get in and 5 minutes after each show for get out.

MARKETING YOUR SHOW

We believe it’s our responsibility to market the festival as a whole, to get the word out about the vibrant Fringe that we’re growing here in Durham to local, regional and national audiences. That said, we simply haven’t got the capacity to market the 70+ individual shows that will be on offer. We will, of course, use any resources our artists and performers provide to highlight what’s on offer. 

We have a marketing and communications plan and use recognised channels for marketing. We’re supported by the tourism board Visit County Durham, and Durham County Council also supports us with a profile in Durham County News, which goes to all homes in the county. We have an active presence across social media, and pay for promotion targeted at the North East and those interested in Fringe and all genres of performance. Funding has enabled us to invest in an expanded outdoor advertising campaign, with hundreds of banners and posters across the city and key routes in. The festival is also supported by a direct marketing campaign, with over 15,000 printed programmes. We use every opportunity to engage broadcast and digital media, and secured a feature on Tyne Tees news at the start of the festival last year. Like everyone our marketing budget has limits but we achieved an 83% growth last year. What works well is a partnership – we do our bit, and expect you to take responsibility, and do everything you can to market your show, too. 

Promoting your show can seem like a daunting task. This guide aims to help you get started on the promotion of your show; provide you with a few tips and tricks and some Durham Fringe Festival assets for you to use on your promotional material.

What sort of show do you have? Theatre, Magic, Spoken word, Stand-up Comedy or something else entirely? As we have a wide variety of genres at Durham Fringe Festival, it’s important to make sure your marketing material clearly conveys the type of show you offer, and appeals to the right audience for you.

Key actions before we begin. Send us your short form video content, so we can share and promote your show. Share with us any news about your show or company. Like and share as many fringe social media posts as you can.



BEFORE YOU APPLY

A stand out show listing. The words you choose to use on your show listing is often all the public has to go from when choosing what to watch. 

Keep it simple! The less words, the better. Try to sum up your show in as few words as possible, giving the potential audience a snapshot into the type of show you’re offering. 

Use a strong image, and keep it consistent. Use the same fonts, styles and phrases in all your promotional materials.

Assign roles. If you have a larger company, or multiple people involved in your show, you could choose someone in your team to handle all the promotion and marketing of your show, or outsource it, if you’ve got the funds.

Keep your media release clear and concise. Focus on your achievements, reviews, awards, key performances and anything newsworthy. Use this when reaching out to media contacts.



SOCIALS, SOCIALS, SOCIALS

Share everything! Including posters, photos and short form videos on your social media. well, and can help boost reach, and increase ticket sales.

It’s a two way street. Share your content with us and tag Durham Fringe Festival in your posts so we can share with our followers too. Use our hashtags listed to the right, to help new people find your posts, and to build the buzz for the whole festival. Liking and commenting, and sharing other show’s posts can help boost your own engagement.

  • @DurhamFringeFest

  • Durham Fringe Festival

  • @DurhamFringe

  • @DurhamFringe

  • #DurhamFringe #DurhamFringeFestival #DurhamFringe2024

All in the videos. Capturing videos for your instagram reels or your tiktok is a great way to build a hype around your show. Raw and behind the scenes videos work well on informal platforms like Tiktok and Instagram. A straight pitch to the camera may well be very useful but content that is off the wall, or fun, also helps to keep your audience engaged.

Keep it authentic. Sharing content that shows you and your personality helps the audience to relate to you. “Sales” posts don’t always travel on social media, so make sure you’ve got a good mix of content about you, and content about buying tickets. A ratio 4 to 1, general posts to show adverts works well.

Consider your audience. Who is your show appealing to? Are you using the right platforms to reach them? If it’s teenagers and younger people consider Tiktok. If you’ve got an older audience try Facebook and Twitter. Have you got a niche audience, for example LGBTQIA+, Veterans or the elderly? Use groups or hashtags to reach them specifically.

 

 

Using Durham Fringe Festival assets

When to use our logos. Pop the logo on your posters if you have them, and add it to designed images you have on your social media. Make sure it’s on any flyers you may bring to the festival. 

How to use our logos. Click the link below to download a zip file containing our 2024 logos. Make sure the background behind doesn’t conflict with the text in the logo. There are various versions of our logos. In general, versions intended for dark backgrounds have white text that can only be seen when in place. For areas of image with light backgrounds the converse logo is required. Don’t crop, change the colour of or stretch the logo, or add any extra text to the logo. Use the 2024 logos available on this page, rather than older logos from previous years.

Contacting the media

Below there are some general media contacts listed for you to use when promoting your show. These are details for regional and national media outlets, including News papers, Radio and Television. When sending through information regarding your shows please ensure you mention Durham Fringe Festival as a whole, and quote the Durham Fringe website durhamfringe.co.uk

Media Company Email Telephone
BBC TV [email protected] 0191 244 1270
BBC News [email protected]. 0191 244 1265
Broadway Baby [email protected]
Business Daily [email protected]
Telegraph [email protected]
The Observer [email protected]
The Art Newspaper [email protected]m

Local Media Company

Email

Telephone

BBC News On Line [email protected] 0191 244 1265
BBC Radio Newcastle [email protected] 0191 244 1459
BBC Radio Tees [email protected]
The Guide Edinburgh Evening News [email protected]
Newcastle Journal/Chronicle [email protected] 0191 201 6446
Business Durham [email protected]
Northern Echo/Durham Advertiser [email protected]
Northern life Magazine [email protected]k
Durham magazine https://fireflymagazines.com/contact-us
The Metro [email protected]

If you have any media contacts of your own that you think would be useful for other performers please add them in the suggestion form below:

More Information. As always our older and bigger sister the Edinburgh Fringe has done some great work on marketing. Take a look