An exhibition of cartoons from members of the Cartoonists Club of Great Britain, the country’s largest and longest standing cartoonist association, is just one element to The Shaftesbury Fringe, taking place this weekend in Dorset.
Alongside the free exhibition at Shaftesbury Town Hall, professional cartoonists, including Ian Ellery, will be drawing live. Chat to them about all things cartooning, find out how they make a living from drawing cartoons, even get advice on how to be a cartoonist.
Prints and books and original artwork will be on sale too.
The Town Hall is also host to Shaftesbury Vintage Fair, offering an eclectic mix of stalls.
On Saturday, the Town Hall is also host to a free event, ARTbeat, an opportunity for local artists of all genres to socialise, display and sell their original creations in an art-village atmosphere outside the Town Hall.
There will be opportunities to doodle and sketch along with the artists and engage in some arty moments during the day.
Founded in 2016 by Andy Tebbutt-Russell & Samantha, Shaftesbury Fringe, which opens today, is one of the key Fringe festivals in the country. An open access performing arts festival, it takes place every summer, on the third weekend of July, in the beautiful hilltop town of Shaftesbury, Dorset.
The Fringe is a celebration of all things creative, which means anyone with a story to tell can put on a Fringe event.
This year’s programme includes an absolutely massive lineup of music events, plus performances of “Through the Looking Glass” by Hedgehog Theatre, surrealism strangeness with “Richard Foreman Gets Out of his Box”, “Wizard Guide to Saving the World” with Terry Victor, “Steamboat Mutineers” organised by a steampunk themed performance group, “Prof William Vaughan’s Punch & Judy Show”, suitable for both the young and the young at heart, and much, much, much more!
The organisers welcome both new and established artists to perform and exhibit in one of over 30 unique venues within the town, which have ranged from traditional venues, like our arts theatre, the town churches and various pubs, to a bathtub in a shop window, the rear garden of a dentist, the outside area of our local garden centre, and a florist’s shop floor. There truly is a venue for everyone.
“Britain’s Friendliest Fringe”, according to performer feedback over the years, the dates of the annual event are carefully to ensure they form part of the country’s unofficial ‘Fringe circuit’. This enables performers booked into the Edinburgh Fringe to try out their acts in front of audiences at smaller Fringe festivals, such as Shaftesbury, before heading north of the border. For audiences this means that you have the opportunity to catch some up-and-coming stars before they become famous!
The Shaftesbury Fringe Cartoon Exhibition is suitable for all, run by The Cartoonists Club of Great Britain is open from Saturday 19th July 2025, 10.30am – 5.00pm | Also Sunday 10.30am – 5.00pm | Free
• Shaftesbury Fringe is online at shaftesburyfringe.co.uk
• Cartoonists Club of Great Britain
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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