Prague, Czech Republic
Mission Title: The Prague Fringe
Mission By: Stephanie Burningham, Sian Hughes
Mission Finished on Date: 24-05-2008
SCRIPT
- Go to the festival and attend as many events as possible. Tape what you can both in route to the different events, the performances themselves, and the places of informal interaction at the festival.
- Interview Steve Gove about the festival’s relationship to the city. How is it being supported? How is it changing Prague if at all? How many people actually travel to Prague for the festival?
- Tell a story about your trip and tape your reaction to the festival is it really fringe, just a riff
- raf collection not worth the flight or an authentic attempt at creating a space in Prague for alternative cultural production.
TRAVEL BAG
How can a cultural event change the direction of a city?
Prague: Not Just for Hookers Anymore. The Prague Fringe Festival is built on the model of Edinburgh’s most famous alternative event, but rather than opening in the shadow of a better funded event, the Prague festival is not in the fringe of a bigger festival but perhaps merely on the fringe.
Begun in 2001, by two Scots; Steven Gove, who lives in Prague, and Angus Coull who was then based there, as well as Newcastle based Carole Wears, the context of the festival has changed just a little. Once the cheap but charming spot for expats on holiday, Prague has become a little overrun since the Czechs joined the EU. Prague needs to develop an alternative to the stag and hen parties that tend to dominate its nightlife, and fringe festivals like this one in Prague, offer an important alternative in diversifying the life of the city.
The Prague Fringe Festival can best be described as innovative, alternative, experimental, and inclusive. There are a range of impediments to such festivals - however, first and foremost is the issue of funding. The British Embassy provides much moral support to the Prague Fringe, with the former ambassador Ann Pringle acting as patron of the festival in the past. And while the Prague Fringe in particular has received valuable financial support from the City of Prague, "spot-funding" for particular events from the British Council and largely ‘in kind’ support from a number of business sponsors, it continues to function literally on a shoe-string with little monetary support from the commercial sector.
