This Agreement has been developed through joint discussions between Brighton Fringe Ltd. (‘BF’) and Brighton Fringe Venue Managers (‘VMs’) including programmers who arrange events and shows in relation to working arrangements for the annual BF festival (‘the festival’).
We aim for this Agreement to benefit all BF stakeholders. It is designed to be a statement of intent and commitment and must be agreed to before taking part in the festival each year.
The Venues Services Team can be contacted by emailing [email protected] or calling 01273 764907.
Outside of festival dates
The Artist Services office hours are 09:30 - 17:00, Monday – Friday
During the Festival
The Artists Services in-person office hours are 12:00 - 17:00, Monday – Saturday and 12:00 – 16:00 on Sundays but our phonelines will be open from 10am.
Brighton Fringe Ltd. and its staff endeavour to reply to email and telephone communications from VMs within 48 hours.
GDPR
Brighton Fringe will use details provided in Eventotron to contact you with information relevant to performing at Brighton Fringe. To opt-out of this, please email [email protected].
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, BF operates in a safe and inclusive professional environment, with a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination and harassment.
Harassment, discrimination and bullying are unacceptable, and any reports of such misconduct will be escalated to BF Senior Manager and our Board of Trustees, as per our complaint procedure. Firstly, mediation will be sought where appropriate and necessary. Where mediation is unsuccessful or inappropriate, Venue Managers (or Programmers) or Artists may be banned from future BF festival participation. In case of a criminal offence, an immediate ban will be imposed. Please note, this ban will affect the Manager or Programmer but not the actual venue.
Actions considered unacceptable include, but are not limited to, physical violence, abuse, written or oral language that leads one to feel afraid, written or oral language containing expletives, hate speech, defamatory statements, inflammatory allegations, unwanted physical attention, sexual harassment, unreasonably persistent communications and time scale demands.
New for 2026
No Venue Manager/Programmer will have more than 2 venues (at different sites) to their name.
If you are responsible for multiple venues at different sites or working on behalf of a venue, you must ensure Brighton Fringe has contact details of at least one member of each venue’s onsite management team available to support the operation of the remote site and notify us of any changes in a timely manner.
Brighton Fringe agrees to:
Operate in a fair and impartial manner in accordance with our BF Ethos and treat VMs and artists with respect at all times. Any reports of misconduct by BF staff will be escalated to BF Senior Management and our Board of Trustees as per our complaint procedure, and mediation will be sought where necessary.
Make details of venues and spaces available to artists via Eventotron as well as to the public on our website. Please note, venue information is only available on our website for venues who have confirmed events taking place.
Sell tickets on behalf of registered BF events at all participating venues via the BF box office.
Promote BF venues both online and in print materials (e.g. brochure), provide promotional materials to help identify venues during the festival (e.g. venue boards), and maintain and develop the BF website in ways that are financially viable to BF.
Provide venues with additional copies of promotional materials upon request and where appropriate.
Keep VMs informed of any necessary information pertaining to their involvement in BF, including relevant updates from the Board of Trustees.
Offer impartial support to both VMs and Artists, should any issue or dispute arise.
Provide a template contract for VMs to use upon request.
Provide a direct email address ([email protected]) and contact number (01273 764 907) and respond in a timely manner to questions.
Redistribute our ticket allocation to the VM Box Office upon request, wherein the VMs have sold out and providing BF Box Office retain their 30%.
Pay out box office settlements no later than 12 July 2026, 6 weeks after the festival ends.
Venue Managers agree to:
Operate in a fair and impartial manner in accordance with our BF Ethos and always treat BF Staff and Artists with respect.
Provide specific details upon venue registration of any age restrictions at the venue, licensing requirements and all accessibility information (i.e. wheelchair/step-free access, assistance dog permissions, accessible toilet availability, etc.).
Provide up-to-date venue details and technical specifications to all companies and to BF.
If you are working on behalf of a venue (e.g. as a Programmer), or are responsible for multiple venues, ensure that BF has the contact details of at least one member of each venue's management team and notify the BF staff of any changes in a timely manner. No Venue Manager will have more than 2 venues at different sites to their name unless a named member of staff who is looking after the additional remote site is nominated.
Reply to emails, phone calls or messages regarding BF in a timely manner.
Ensure that all participating companies are issued with a contract, written in plain English, which outlines any hire charges, box office and door splits, financial obligations, settlement schedules, Front of House support and other fees or penalties that may apply.
To be transparent about all costs which the artists may incur from the offet and throughout.
Ensure that all events being advertised as BF events are registered as such on Eventotron. If an event happening concurrently with the BF festival dates is not registered, this needs to be made clear in or on any in-house promotional materials.
Ensure that all promotional materials created by or displayed at venue carries the official BF logo.
Display promotional material of all events at venue as agreed with event producer/artists and, if space allows, allow other venue/event promotional material to be displayed too.
Comply with applicable licensing, employment and health and safety legislation.
Ensure that all information regarding events taking place at your venue(s) is inputted correctly in Eventotron.
If a venue operates its own box office it must provide a minimum of 30% allocation of tickets to all performances of all events to the BF box office, including concession-priced tickets. This includes all ticket types such as family tickets, personal assistant tickets or any other special ticket types.
Consider increasing the BF box office’s ticket allocation if asked by BF, when the 30% allocation held by BF is sold out. This is particularly important to ensure that our artists are best supported and that no sale of tickets is missed by lack of stock, audiences do not face multiple booking fees and we cooperate to maximize venue footfall.
Provide a telephone number and/or email address and opening hours if they are operating their own box office for customer enquiries.
Inform the BF box office of any seating plans, seating arrangements, allocated seating and restricted views at the point of registering.
Endeavour to ensure that all events start on time and do not over-run.
Communicate details of cancelled or changed events to the BF box office as soon as possible and contact any audience members who have booked through the venue box office in good time.
Aim to make their venue as accessible as possible.
Display their BF venue board in a prominent location on the venue's exterior and display any relevant BF publicity including bunting, posters and flyers in prominent locations throughout their venue.
Forward any monies owed to participating companies within four weeks of receipt of your BF settlement and to notify BF of any occasions where this has not taken place, together with details as to when payment will be completed.
Arrange mediation by BF if a dispute arises with a participating company that cannot be resolved.
Provide proof of Public Liability Insurance (in the form of a policy number and supplier name via Eventotron) and a venue Risk Assessment to BF no later than Thursday 30 April 2026.
Familiarise themselves with all PRS and PPL license fee tariffs and deductions and BF commission so as to accurately inform artists when necessary. Full information is on the BF website here. Please note, artists are required to keep atop this information themselves.
