Ipswich’s latest festival is a collaboration between former director of the Norwich Fringe Festival, Amy Wragg and local scene guru Cad Taylor. The idea is to rejuvenate the local scene and showcase the best talent Ipswich has to offer in a two-week celebration.

“When I moved here I was initially disappointed with what I saw as an uninspired scene”, Amy says, “but I soon found that you just have to search for it. There’s no one place to find out about everything, and we hope to change that.” With a line-up of over 50 events, from live music to drive-in movies (including an appearance from the legendary Mark Grist, whose rap battle with Blizzard has over two million YouTube views), SWITCH FRINGE certainly looks like it’s heading towards this change.

Important to Switch’s success, Amy continues, is getting as many people involved as possible. “SWITCH FRINGE is representing Ipswich locally, regionally and nationally, so we need to make sure that it reflects the town’s cultural life and people.” Open meetings regarding the festival’s planning are held at CSV Media Clubhouse every Tuesday at 7pm, and everyone is welcome to come along and contribute to organising.

Although this year marks SWITCH’s debut, Amy is already planning for it to be a annual event, as well as being influential all year round. “I hope Switch can have an ongoing presence in the town, from helping support campaigns to making sure the council are kept in touch with the music and arts that gives the town its charm.”

SWITCH FRINGE will be running events across town from June 22 to July 7. If you’d like to get involved, get in touch! PS