S&DR200 Fringe Festival
The S&DR200 Fringe Festival is a programme of public events, inspired by the S&DR's 200th anniversary and organised by creative and community organisations in County Durham and Tees Valley in 2025.
From folk musicians to poets and knitters to those who would like to host a street party or community picnic - everyone in County Durham and Tees Valley can celebrate this special anniversary year in their own unique way.
The Fringe sits alongside the main S&DR200 full festival programme, which is funded by Darlington Borough Council, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Durham County Council and Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Fringe events are run by the creative and community organisations with the main festival supporting through provision of templates for marketing materials and promotion via the S&DR200 website, newsletter, and social media channels.
How to get involved
Can I run a S&DR200 Fringe event?
If you are an individual or group, a professional or amateur organisation, you can present a S&DR200 Fringe event.
Events should meet the following criteria:
- inspired by the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR)
- taking place in 2025 in County Durham and Tees Valley
- be accessible and inclusive to all
- be carefully planned and managed by organisers - read this government guide to organising a voluntary event.
- be free or low cost to the public
Fringe event organisers are responsible for all elements of their event, this includes: production and management, licences, operations, marketing, public liability, funding, staffing, and ticketing.
Can the festival help fund my event?
Sadly, the main festival cannot fund fringe events. We recommend looking at the following funding options and researching whether there are any local funders. Please bear in mind that any funding applications are often detailed and require considerable investment of time.
Some options for funding are:
- communities local to the 26-mile S&DR route between Shildon and Stockton can apply for funds between £250 and £10,000 with £30,000 available for capital works projects - visit the community page for more information
- Darlington for Culture have funding pots for Darlington-based projects - visit the Darlington for Culture website for more information
- National Lottery Community Fund - visit the Community Fund website for more information
- Developing your Creative Practice Fund from Arts Council England is worth looking into if you are an individual artist - visit the Arts Council England website for more information
How will my event be supported?
We will help support your event as part of the wider S&DR200 festival.
We will:
- provide a S&DR200 Fringe Festival digital pack to help you promote your event
- publish your event on the What's On section of the S&DR200 website which will see a large amount of traffic from 2025 onwards
- promote your event on S&DR200 social media channels
What do I do next?
Please email info@sdr200.co.uk to be given access to the S&DR200 Fringe Festival Events Diary 2025 to register your proposed or confirmed event.
What is the S&DR200 Fringe Festival Events Diary 2025?
The S&DR200 Fringe Festival Events Diary allows organisers to put proposed events in there so that we can start building a picture of what will be happening across 2025, ensuring we are there are not too many events on the same day.
This document is hosted on Microsoft Teams, and you can gain access by emailing info@sdr200.co.uk
There are three tabs on the spreadsheet so please look along the bottom and find the one suitable for you:
- Fringe events diary - basic details of your event as far as you know at this stage
- Artists looking for - this is for artists who want to get involved but maybe don't know how yet, or they have an idea, and they are looking for a venue or collaborator
- Venues looking for - this is for venues, spaces and business who may want to host S&DR-related activity but need to find the talent
Once your event is confirmed and the What's On section of our website is live in December 2024 - we will send you details of how to submit your event. This will then be in the public domain, and we can all start promoting it.
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