Guildford Fringe Festival commences for 2025

Surrey's largest independent arts festival begins this week, and will run until 20th September. The festival is taking place across Guildford, featuring comedy, theatre, visual arts, children’s shows, including free events, as it returns for its 13th year.

Thousands of people are expecting to turn up to enjoy events ranging from the customary free Opera On The Balcony at the Guildhall (being held below the balcony this year due to structural repairs), to comedy and spoken word shows.

The fringe festival is taking place across a number of venues both in and around Guildford, including the White Star Inn, the Fallen Angel cabaret bar, St Mary's Church, Clandon Nature Reserve, Guildford Library, and more.

A Family Fun Day already took place earlier in August as part of the build-up to the festival, and a highlight of this year is expected to be a one-night production 'LIV: Sapphic Shakespeare', which is a Shakespearean-style retelling of the stories of the Twelfth Night heroines of Olivia and Viola.

The play, which has already had successful runs in London and at other fringe festivals, was written by Tanieth Kerr, an alumnus of the Guildford School of Acting, and re-imagines Twelfth Night as a tale of Olivia and Viola falling in love with each other while dealing with themes of loss, grief and life in the public eye.

The full programme of events, and tickets, can be found at: guildfordfringefestival.com