As we look back and celebrate an incredible year, we’re launching a new Ventnor Fringe Guarantee Fund to help ensure the festival continues into 2026 and beyond.
This year Ventnor Fringe celebrated its 15th edition with record breaking attendance. Nearly 13,000 tickets were sold (up 7.5% on 2024) to over 130 shows with many also attending the more than 100 free events on offer.
In total we estimate over a £500,000 boost to the local economy during the event, in the form of artists and audience spending on local accommodation and restaurants, spending at the festival itself and on local suppliers. This rises to close to a £1 million throughout the year from the wider activities of Ventnor Exchange.
A team of over 100, mostly volunteers, pulled out all the stops to make this year’s event a huge success and an incredible achievement for such a small place. No rock fall is going to stop Ventnor!
The festival was featured across the national press in titles including The Sunday Times, Independent, Metro and Daily Express helping raise awareness of the town and introducing Ventnor to a new generation of visitors. Rising stars from across the creative industries now make the regular annual trip to the Island, inspired by the unique setting and hearty welcome they receive, much like the writers and artists of old who first made the town famous.
But we need your help…
Started by local teenagers back in 2010, Ventnor Fringe is run by Ventnor Exchange and is a not for profit project run entirely independently by a local team. Outside of the festival we support over 600 young people each year with free training and opportunities, and provide space for community groups and clubs at our centre on Church Street. It’s a unique project for the Island and stands as a rebuffal to the negative narrative of seaside decline.
But it’s not easy. Each year we need to raise over £300,000 to stage the festival. We do not receive any funds from the council so rely entirely on ticket sales and bar/food income to cover around 90% of these overheads, with our own fundraising to cover the remaining costs.
Ventnor Fringe Guarantee Fund
The new Ventnor Fringe Guarantee Fund aims to bring together the whole community to help us secure this final 10%, with a target to raise £35,000 for next years event by the end of 2025.
With your support we can ensure the festival continues to play a major role in contributing to the cultural life of the Island and continue making the improvements needed to ensure it thrives for the future.
How can you help?
You can make a donation of any size, however big or small, to support the Fringe Guarantee Fund, but we’ve also put together some options for both individuals and business with some special perks and gifts to thank you for your support.
Individual Supporters
Supporter £100
– Supporters Enamel Badge
– 2 x Tickets to Opening Night Party
Patrons £500
– Supporters Enamel Badge
– 2 x Tickets to Opening Night Party
– 4 Free tickets to Arena Shows
– Proud Supporters Flag
Business Supporters
From £150
– Supporter Sticker for your vehicle or business premises.
– Name on supporters wall in the Fringe Village (Small)
– Name on website
From £500
– Supporter Sticker for your vehicle or business premises.
– Name on supporters wall in the Fringe Village (Medium)
– Article in e-newsletter (6K readers)
– Featured in Artists Welcome Pack (1K readers)
– Logo on Website
– 4 Free tickets to Arena Shows for your staff
– Proud Supporters Flag
From £1,000
– Supporter Sticker for your vehicle or business premises.
– Name on supporters wall in the Fringe Village (Large)
– Advert in programme (15K copies)
– 2 x Article in e-newsletter (6K readers)
– Featured in Artists Welcome Pack (1K readers)
– Logo on Website
– 10 Free tickets to Arena Shows for your staff
– Proud Supporters Flag
FAQ’s
Won’t costs just keep on rising? How will you ensure the festival is sustainable?
The cost of almost everything has risen dramatically over the past few years, especially between 2021-2024 and it has been difficult to pass on all of these costs to the public while keeping the event accessible to as many people as possible.
However, despite these challenges, Ventnor Fringe is more sustainable than many similar events with ticket sales rising year on year, bucking the national trend.
One of our largest overheads is production costs and we’ve been focused on securing key venues like Ingrams Yard with a long lease at a fixed rent. This year we also launched the Arena, our very own Big Top, made possible thanks to the support of Arts Council England. You may have seen it taking pride of place at Flowersbrook. Owning this key piece of infrastructure meant that the production costs of the 2025 festival didn’t rise as in most years, remaining broadly the same for the first time since the COVID pandemic, a major achievement and step towards securing the long term future for the event.
Over the coming years we now expect the overheads of the festival to remain much more stable than in the past.
What’s happening with Ingrams Yard?
In Autumn 2023, Ventnor Exchange announced ambitious plans to transform this former builder’s yard into a creative hub – with space for workshops, rehearsals, public events, performances, and hands-on courses. It also provides important facilities, as well as being a venue for Ventnor Fringe.
Thanks to donations from the local community we were able to secure a lease on the building and make some initial repairs to begin some meanwhile uses of the site, such as the Ingrams Yard Markets.
Now, we’re working with HemingwayDesign to shape a long-term vision for Ingrams Yard as a year-round space for creativity, making, skill-sharing, and community connection.
As this vision takes shape, we want to hear from you. There is a short survey currently open for submissions.
Inspired by the Music Venues Trust we are currently researching and exploring the possibility of community ownership, creating a community share offer that allows members of the public to invest collectively in buying buildings or assets. We’ll be providing more information on this soon.
Will you still be able to buy/use a Culture Pass?
Yes, our Culture Pass costs £35/year and offers great 2for1 offers on many shows and events at Ventnor Exchange throughout the year, as well as at Ventnor Fringe.
Don’t you guys get funding by the Arts Council ?
Ventnor Exchange has been a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) since 2023, receiving an annual grant from Arts Council England. This funding supports our core costs like staff and overheads (not included in the Fringe budget) as well our Brave Island programme and creative commissions. We still need to raise over £300,000 each year to host Ventnor Fringe.
