THE hunt is on for the next big act to become the critics’ choice when the Swindon Fringe Festival returns next year.

After a hugely successful run around Swindon last year, with nine award winning shows heading off to Brighton Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe and the West End, Madam Renards is now preparing to put together another celebration of performing arts.

Applications for the Swindon Fringe Festival 2017 opened at the end of last week, and aspiring performers only have until Sunday, November 13 to get their applications in.

“If you can play an instrument, tell a few jokes, perform monologues, master puppetry, juggle with knives, scream poetry, rap while painting or love dancing then apply,” said Molly Campbell.

“Swindon Fringe Festival is looking for as many local artists to fill up the Shoebox Theatre and The Victoria from 1st to the 9th of April 2017. The Swindon Fringe Festival wants everything from family friendly shows to adults-only, new writing to Shakespeare, workshops and more.”

She also added the festival was on the look-out for sponsors to come forward to support next year’s event.

“With recent government cuts to arts funding and the cost of running events increasing, the Swindon Fringe Festival is already on a very tight budget," he said.

“We need corporations, local businesses and even you to help fund the festival. Printing brochures, hiring technical equipment and ensuring the bar is well stocked between performances are some of the essentials this festival cannot run without.

“Swindon Fringe Festival currently guarantees all artists to walk away with profits from ticket sales after expenses have been taken into account. The more funding we can get to run the festival; the money we can give back to the artists.”

The organisers have set up a kickstarter page for supporters of the festival to make personal donations, which can be found at www.Kickstater.com. Those who would like to sponsor an event or advertise their business as part of the festival are asked to contact Matt Fox at matt@madamrenards.co.uk.

The organisers expect to unveil the full programme of performances in January., with tickets going on sale at The Wyvern Theatre shortly after. For more details visit www.madamrenards.wordpress.com