FUNDING THE FRINGE

A heartfelt thank you to all our incredible sponsors and supporters – from those who donated services and spaces, to everyone who backed our crowdfunder, as Programme Pals and Festival Legends, our lead sponsor and to our brilliant stage sponsors – you’ve made the very first year of Totnes Fringe a reality.

Your generosity has helped lay the foundations for a new kind of festival: one that’s rooted in creativity, inclusivity, and community. Thanks to your support, we’re able to offer a programme that’s open to all – with free performances, ‘pay what you can’ events, and fair pay for artists.

In our first year this matters more than ever. You’ve helped us prove that a grassroots festival in Totnes can be bold, welcoming, and artist-led – and that it has a bright future.

Thank you for believing in us – and for bringing creativity and connection to the heart of Totnes.

Few will remember the early days, but Ben’s Farm Shop started off, as Riverford Farm Foods, in Totnes market back in 1983 and, looking back, Totnes has been pretty good to us. First the market stall, then the shop on the farm then, in its first incarnation, ‘Riverford goes to town’, then the, now sadly closed, ‘Ben’s Wine and Tapas’ — it feels as though we’ve always struck a chord with, and been supported by, the people of Totnes.

Keeping our heads down and just getting on with things has always been our modus operandi and we’ve watched as The College of Arts closed and, sadly, Dartington Hall and Trust flounder. Love or hate them, few can argue that Totnes wouldn’t be the place it is without Dartington Hall. For decades, it was just the railway station that serviced The Hall, but over the years, Totnes has become the main act in its own right.

Totnes might be the destination and attraction, but it felt as though the impetus, on the creative front, was waning and the town wasn’t really going to deliver anything much in the way of entertainment this summer. So, when we were approached by the embryonic Totnes Fringe Festival it didn’t take long to work out that making this work was in everybody’s best interests and that us helping would be a few quid well spent. We’re pleased, and honoured, to do so.

For those who don’t know who we are, we’re your local food shop providing you with access to a community of local farmers, producers and growers. But we’re as much a food producer as we are a retailer, as we’ve developed our own homemade small batch food products along the way too. We’ve grown earnestly under the steadfast ethos of “good food from good farming” and have become part of the Totnes landscape over the last forty-two years. 

Some people say we’re a bit of an institution and so we’d like to help Totnes Fringe Festival become one too.

We're proud to support what is set to be a very exciting and ambitious event, which will hopefully become a cornerstone in Totnes' rich tapestry.