The twelfth Chelsea Fringe Festival will take place from Saturday 20th to Sunday 28th May 2023
Now in its twelfth year, the Chelsea Fringe celebrates community and guerrilla gardening, and encourages links between gardens and art, literature, music, cookery, history, crafts, and ecology – everything from grassroots community garden projects to avant-garde art installations.
The Chelsea Fringe is a true fringe festival – based on the Edinburgh model – in that nothing is commissioned or curated. We’re all about harnessing and spreading the excitement and energy that fizzes around gardens and gardening and giving people the freedom and opportunity to express themselves through the medium of plants and gardens.
We look for Chelsea Fringe events that create rich and idiosyncratic experiences that engage the imagination, rather than ‘put on a show’. Our open-access principle means that just about anything goes – as long as it’s on-topic, interesting and legal, and relates to gardens, growing or landscape. We are always surprised – and delighted – by what pops up each year, fresh from the imagination of our horticultural comrades!
And you don’t have to be in in London – despite its name, the festival reaches well beyond Chelsea; not just to every quarter of London, but also to the far corners of the UK and around the world. Events have taken place all over the UK and in 20 different countries since we started in 2012. Last year, there was a ‘satellite’ Fringe festival in Seattle, Washington, for the first time!
Whether you’re a Fringe first-timer or a Fringe veteran, an individual, a community garden or a larger organisation, we’d love you to get involved. Send us an email at info@chelseafringe.com with as many details as possible about your planned Chelsea Fringe 2023 event. We’ll reply, with questions and suggestions based on our experience, to make your event zing! Once your idea gets the Fringe thumbs-up, we’ll let you know how to register online. Our early-bird rates apply until 31 March.
The Chelsea Fringe continues unsponsored and unfunded, and remains powered by volunteer help. We think it’s something rare and – we hope – precious in the gardens world, so please support us by taking part this year. We actively encourage events which are free and/or low-budget, in contrast to other shows and festivals. It’s amazing what can be achieved with enthusiasm, imagination and goodwill! So come join us!
