Thursday, 3rd July, 2026 saw the official launch of the inaugural Yorkshire Fringe. To celebrate this eight-day long series of events throughout the county, we were gathered in Leeds Conservatoire for a briefing, some snippets from the works on offer and a networking opportunity for those in the various strands of the arts featured to be able connect with others of a similar ilk. It also gave me a chance to gather a bit of background information from those concerned.
Lisa Holdsworth shares her vision of the future flanked by Jonathan Hall, left and Tyler Pickles, right.
The proceedings were opened by Jonathan Hall, representing the organising committee, who explained the reason for setting up the festival, which was ‘to promote, celebrate and unite all creative voices across Yorkshire.’ Good luck with that, Mr Hall, but if you don’t aim big, you might just as well not aim at all. Fortunately, he has the backing of some of the county’s most influential figures, including Rebel Roots Theatre Company founder, Tyler Pickles and the writing legend that is Lisa Holdsworth, Chair of The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain TV Committee, who has been walking the walk for years now by encouraging and giving opportunities to aspiring young writers. They expanded on the aims and values of the organisation, a summary of which can be found at https://www.yorkshirefringe.co.uk/
Jonathan Hall listens to Naomi Sumner Chan outline the details of Leeds Playhouse’s Furnace initiative, designed to encourage and assist aspiring creatives and artists.
There then followed sixteen, at least that is what I counted, 3-minute extracts from the programme, the time limit emphatically signalled by a loud blast on a referee’s whistle. Fortunately none of those taking part needed to be shown a red card, thus prompting an intervention by Donald Trump. There was another discussion, this time by Jonathan Hall and Naomi Sumner Chan of Leeds Playhouse, on the theatre’s Furnace initiative which supports local creatives in generating new works. For more information please see https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/for-artists/
Claire Oliver, explains her Dodgy Anagram Show.
It struck me as to how varied the elements in the festival were. Yes, there is a lot of comedy, but extremely diverse in style and presentation, everything from stand up to sketches and one feature posing risqué anagrams for the audience to solve – by no means as boring as it sounds. I won a badge for getting one in the ‘Places To Get Stoned’ category, which was the jumbled letters of countries where you are able to partake of certain recreational substances, or likely to be punished in a barbaric fashion using rocks. If you decide to go to The Grove, on 16th July, the one I got was in the former category, and was NETHERLANDS, so that might give you a head start. – you’re welcome. Those years of watching Countdown have paid off at last.
Libby Wattis
Libby Wattis made a heart-rending pitch for her shows on 11th and 18th July at Headingley Enterprise & Arts Centre where her solo show concerns the plight of kinship carers i.e. people who are called upon to raise the children of relatives after an emergency. There are 140,000 such carers in the country, so not as rare as you might think.
If you want subtlety, that is catered for too, but not by the hilarious Hannah Mullen, who, at Hyde Park Book Club on 13th and 14th July will elucidate her mantra ‘I F*cking Love F*cking Someone I F*cking Hate’. Who doesn’t, but in my case figuratively rather than literally!
Hannah F*cking Mullen
As well as the Fringe being varied in content, the venues are also disparate, both in location: Ripon, Huddersfield, Sheffield, York, and Wakefield, to name but a few; and structure, with pubs, arts centres, theatres, coffee houses and even a garden potting shed in Bingley.
I don’t propose to go through the whole gamut, so I apologise to those who entertained us so well at the launch, but clicking on https://www.yorkshirefringe.co.uk/programme will provide you with full details of everything on offer in far more detail than I could; you can also book whilst you are there. Prices are very reasonable and lots are on a pay as you feel basis.
Yorkshire Fringe runs from Saturday, 11th July, 2026 to Sunday, 19th July, 2026.
Enjoy!
Photographs by Stan Graham
Tyke It To The Limit 