It's almost June

It always feels a little strange to be within a week of the FFFestival getting started. We started planning and plotting way back last Autumn, and the work has gone on since among the four key volunteer organisers from Performers Together, with Sally Dickson coming on  board with another raft of writing events, including the Flash Fiction Competition, Sue Lampard working out her wonderful series of workshops which is the Big Sing, and Michelle Sowden once again putting a terrific Hale Shindig together.
And the registrations came in, and the brochure started to come together, and the printers came on board, and three weeks ago this year's full colour brochure arrived, in all its boxes and boxes, into Janet and Brian's garage in Hale. Steadily over those weeks the piles of boxes have diminished as the brochures have been distributed around Farnham and outlying places, around participants' networks and to passers-by in the Lion and Lamb Yard and outside the Maltings.
And there's just over a week to go before the launch event in Gostrey Meadow kicks off another June full of colour, sound, drama and movement. Phew!
There have been innovations this year. We have a new website, we have advertising supporting the cost of the brochure, we have a crowd-funding campaign which makes supporting the running of the FFFestival really easy to do, at whatever level people wish, just by clicking on https://www.gofundme.com/growing-farnham039s-fringe and following a few simple guide instructions.
This Blog, too, is a New Thing. There will be posts from various performers, telling more about their work than will fit in the What's On listing.
There have been ups and downs. The Farnham Institute generously increased its grant funding to us to help us increase the visibility of FFFestival events around town during the month. Farnham Town Council also granted us some funding towards the cost of the brochure, though sadly were not able to do so at previous years' levels. We've welcomed registrations from performers who've been with us since the start, as well as from those who are participating for the first time, and we've not heard from others who have joined in before.
AND there is a great, various gallimaufry of a month coming up.
Make sure your brochure is to hand - and that you check the website: events are still coming in which aren't in the brochure. And there's the Blog to follow!
​Have a great month!