Whether you’re a professional artist, arts organisation, school or community group, a fringe veteran or a first timer who wants to try a new idea, get involved in Wandsworth's annual arts extravaganza!
6 — 22 June 2025
Get involved
WHAT'S FRINGE?
Wandsworth Arts Fringe is an open-access festival, which means that no matter who you are or where you come from, everyone is welcome!
Unlike other arts festivals, no-one’s in charge of deciding which shows get to take part. We don't have curators or programmers, and there are no themes or content criteria that artists have to fulfil when registering their show. Anyone with a story to tell and a venue to host them is invited to register.
HOW TO TAKE PART
1. Express your interest in taking part
Filling out an Expression of Interest form is a non-committal way of telling us your plans and letting us know if you need any help or advice.
2. Find and secure a venue, or decide on a digital platform.
3. Register your event (opening in December 2024 for our 2025 festival)
KEY DATES
Expressions of Interest open: 9 September 2024
WAF Grants applications open: 9 September 2024
WAF Grants applications close: 30 October 2024
Registration and Earlybird opens: Wed 4 December 2024
WAF Grants announced: mid-December 2024
Expressions of interest close: Thu 12 December 2024
Early bird registration closes: Thu 9 January 2025, 5pm
Final registration and copy deadline: Fri 14 February 2025, 5pm
WAF festival dates: Fri 6 to Sun 22 June 2025
FIND A VENUE
We are open to live projects in venues, parks, community estates and the high street, as well as digital projects.
Securing the right venue or digital platform is one of the most important decisions you will make.
Have a look at our Venue Directory to get an idea of the venues available in Wandsworth for the festival. You will need to confirm a date and time directly with the venue.
Read our Venue Information Pack for helpful guidance on choosing the right venue for your event.
Using Outdoor Spaces
If you would like to use a park or green space you will need to email Lucy Murray in the first instance so we can guide you through the process of getting permission from Enable Event Management or Wandsworth Housing Department, depending on which site you are hoping to use.
Make sure to tell us what park or green space you want to use as well as the size and nature of your event. Please note that charges normally apply. You may also need a Temporary Event Notice from Wandsworth Council.
WATCH: MEET THE WAF HUB VENUES
BECOME A VENUE
If you are a venue in Wandsworth and are interested in hosting events and activities as part of WAF, or are keen to find out more about being a hub venue, then get in touch with Cath Mattos.
As a venue manager in Wandsworth you can create, claim and edit a venue to be featured in our WAF Venue Directory.
How to register your venue:
- 1. Create an Account through My Fringe
- 2. Claim your Venue from the existing drop down list or add a new venue
- 3. Update all the details on the venue form for your spaces.
If you would like to edit any details after claiming your venue, you will find it all in your My Fringe account.
NETWORKING, SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
We hold a series of information and development sessions in the lead up to the registration deadline and festival dates. These are for you to meet the WAF team as well as to make new connections with other participants so that you can share ideas, resources and publicity, and get the most out of taking part.
If you are thinking about getting involved or have an idea that you may want to develop then we would love to meet you, so come along!
Dates and times of WAF Creatives Sessions for 2024-2024 will be published here
We also offer online toolkits and guidance, and a 1-1 clinic session for more specific advice on realising your ideas and fundraising, including making an application to our grant scheme.
REGISTRATION
Before you can register your event to be part of the festival, you will need to create an account in My Fringe and pay the correct registration fee.
There are 3 types of registration:
- Single-venue Live (in-person) events: £45 (early bird £35)
- Multi-venue Live (in-person) events: £75 (early bird £60) – up to 10 venues possible for touring the same event.
- Online / Do-It-At-Home events £40 (early bird £30)
(All prices are inclusive of VAT.)
We offer 50% off for artists under 26 or for artist collectives with over half of their members aged under 26.
If your project is multi-faceted, for instance it includes a workshop, a live event, an exhibition and a film, please DO NOT register it as a multi-venue event. Get in touch with WAF Producer Cath Mattos who will advise you on the best way to register those events indivdiually as part of the same project in a cost-effective way.
Wandsworth Council led events should contact Programme & Partnerships Manager Lucy Murray about their event for support with the registration process.
You must complete your listing text and upload your images to complete registration by Friday 14 February 2025.
WATCH: HOW TO REGISTER
Note: If you would like to go back in and edit any details after registration you can do so in your My Fringe account. However, after 16 February, we will lock key details which affect ticketing, and you will need to contact us to amend dates, times, venue, presenter name, event name, prices and offers.
FUNDING
Each year, the WAF Grant scheme awards up to £2000 to artists, to support the realisation of creative projects that enagage meaningfully with Wandsworth communities and meet our strategic aims.
WAF Grants applications for WAF 2025 open on Mon 9 September 2025.
Visit our WAF Grants pagetoolkits: alternative funding opportunities
Your listing
To complete your listing, you must upload the following information through your My Fringe account:
- Event title
- Performer/artist name
- Venue/s (please make sure your venue is confirmed before completing your listing)
- Dates and times of your event
- Short and long description of your event
- Image/s (minimum of one required)
- Trailer and additional digital content (optional).
LISTING IMAGES
A picture says a thousand words, so make sure your image choices are engaging and reflect the content of your event. Your images must be the correct specifications below or they will be rejected.
Guidelines for all images:
- JPEG files only
- No text or logos
- No mosiac/collage images
- Web Image/s - These must be a minimum of 600 pixels high x 800 pixels wide (4:3 landscape format) and under 2MB in size.
- You can supply one main image and up to four further images for your event listing on the WAF website.
- Hi-res image for print and PR (optional) - must be a minimum of 2000px wide and under 4MB in size (landscape format).
Ticketing
Our WAF ticketing partner is SeatLive and they use a ticketing system called Red61, we sell the tickets centrally through our website.
SeatLive take a 12% inside commission fee for each ticketed event, that you need to factor in when setting your ticket price (free for ticketed free events). The fee will be deducted when they complete their settlement to you, and settlements should happen within 3 weeks of the end of WAF. They will also charge a small per transaction booking fee to the ticket booker (also free for ticketed free events).
In your WAF registration form you will be asked the Ticket Allocation you would like WAF/SeatLive to sell on your behalf. Make this a realistic figure, it can be less than the room capacity - but it cannot be more than the room capacity.
We have WAF ticket offers that you can opt in to on the registration form, and you can also create your own ticket offers.
MARKETING & PUBLICITY TIPS
- Market your event. Being on the website alone does not guarantee an audience. Make sure to factor marketing into your budget.
- Include the WAF logo on your material – you can download from our toolkits page here.
- Make your venue work for you. You are responsible for your relationship with your venue. Get it to display your publicity and support your social media activity, and ask what other marketing support they can offer.
- Ticket offers - Make sure you opt in for our WAF Multibuy offer and WAF Artist offer (£5 ticket for WAF artists) Plus set up your own offers too!
- Get involved with the WAF community. Like all good things, the more you put in, the more you get out. Attend networking sessions, cross publicise with other events, make links, share ideas – this is your Fringe and its success works on a basis of mutual benefit.
- Get involved with action on social media – support each other with likes and re-posts and cross-pollinate your audiences.
WAF PUBLICITY
We offer a range of support to help you realise your Wandsworth Arts Fringe event and engage audiences and participants, including:
- Promote your listing on wandsworthartsfringe.com
- Promote the Fringe as a whole with a comprehensive marketing campaign
- Provide a marketing and press toolkit for you to market your own event
- Host a festival launch
Join the party!
Sign up for WAF programme announcements, ticket offers, artist opportunities and ways to take part.
Sign up here