Windsor Express, 8 October 2015
By Tara O'Connor

The Windsor Fringe and Windsor Festival both finished at the weekend after two weeks of events around the town.

The 46th Windsor Fringe began with a free celebration of Windsor Library’s 20th anniversary, which saw more than 200 people gather at Bachelors Acre to hear Windsor-based 90s band Republica play.

The Fringe was not just about music, with photography exhibitions, guided walks around the town and showings of art-house films all taking place. There were also sell-out children’s shows, which were rounded off by a performance of naughty puppet Goldifox on Saturday at Windsor Baptist Church.

The final weekend of the Fringe celebrated the Kenneth Branagh award for new drama writing.

A total of 271 scripts from 13 different countries were entered and the three top plays, chosen by judges Pete Gallagher and Sarah Wolf, were performed on consecutive nights last week.

An awards ceremony held after the last performance on Saturday night saw Adam Thorn named overall winner for his script, Our Jonathon. He received £500 for his efforts.

Sir Kenneth Branagh said: “I am delighted to sponsor this writing award and to be a small part of the Windsor Fringe initiative that supports new writers. I welcome the encouragement that this award offers to writers both local and international.”

The Fringe team is already looking for acts for the 2016 programme, as well as looking at bringing in new members to be on the organising committee.

The Windsor Festival, which was opened at the same time as the Fringe, celebrated its 45th anniversary this year. There was a range of art and music concerts around the town, including events at Windsor Castle and a community stage each weekend in Windsor Royal Shopping centre.

Chairman of the festival, Martin Denny, said: “We had a magical fortnight and we had some fantastic concerts in the castle. Throughout the festival it seemed to be well received and a lot of people enjoyed the things they came to.”