Femfest is an antidote to the white-cis-het-male dominated fringe theatre landscape of the UK. The festival takes place over the week of International Women’s Day, celebrating voices from marginalised genders.
Our founder, Maddie Ross, has worked extensively across Brighton & Edinburgh Fringe since 2016. In 2020, she was uninspired by the lack of female, non-binary and trans involvement in decision making for festivals and disappointed by the lack of accessibility and safeguarding for audiences carried out by the venues. Frustrated by the lack of a safe and accessible fringe festival she decided to set up Femfest.
Femfest is Brighton’s only fringe arts festival run by and for people with a lived experience of misogyny. Since its launch in 2020 we have seen Femfest grow exponentially, 2023 will be our biggest year yet, seeing us move to our new home The Actors. A venue with a long history of championing and centering queer narratives and fringe theatre. We host multiple art disciplines , including cabaret, comedy, theatre, workshops and life drawing + more.