This July marks the second year anniversary of the Cardiff Fringe, a week-long theatre and entertainment showcase taking place at venues around the city and featuring exciting new talent from Wales and the South West. The festival aims to challenge traditional perceptions of theatre-going, offering a calendar of inclusive theatrical and comedy events alongside networking evenings and workshops. Following the success of the festival’s inaugural year, the team returns this summer with a host of new acts including: magic, cabaret, and Shakespeare. Isabelle Paige, co-founder and 2017 chairperson, spoke to John McLoughlin about the festival and what to expect from it this year.

Tell us a little about the history of the festival.

Initially it was a case of a few people getting together, about half of whom knew each other already. We just thought ‘let’s give it a go, we won’t have high expectations of it,’ and then the worst that can happen is that we would be right! A lot of the companies last year were people that we knew; that was quite safe for us, so when we opened it to everyone this year we were totally overwhelmed by how many people wanted to be in our little experiment.

Are there many new companies taking part this year?

Most of them are different from last year. The Spilt Milk people were involved in the Scratch Night last year, but I think all the rest of them are different. A lot of people from last year were our friends, so even though they were great we didn’t want to seem like we were playing favourites.

How much is the festival inspired by the Edinburgh Fringe?

For me I’d say quite a lot because I love the Edinburgh Fringe. I went on holiday somewhere boring in Scotland when I was about fifteen with my parents. It was really boring, and then we went on a day trip to Edinburgh, didn’t even know the Fringe was happening and when I saw it I was like ‘What is this, how can I make my life about it?!’ I kept going back and for me now the festival is all about making theatre more social. In Edinburgh you can go from place to place with a beer in your hand, and there’s much more interactivity.

What’s your favourite kind of venue to work in Cardiff?

Cardiff’s theatre venues are all great because they’re really easy to work in – you can put an act in there and know they’re going to have lights and sound and everything. From the point of view of experience I actually prefer quirky venues like AJ’S Coffee House on City Road. The rest of the time it’s just a regular café, not very big, and they manage to turn it into a little theatre space and it’s really nice: it shakes up the whole experience.

How will the festival be ticketed?

All the tickets can be bought directly from our website at cardifffringetheatrefestival.co.uk or you can go directly to TicketSource. There are five free shows this year; you can find details for them on our website.

Which partners are you working with this year?

We are sponsored by Dawnus, a construction company working in Roath. They’re really generously supporting us and investing in the areas which they work, which is great. We’re also sponsored by TicketSource who have benefited us massively with their promotion efforts, and have provided a platform for us to sell tickets, which is actually a fairly expensive thing to set up on your own.

It’s the second year for the festival, what have you found particularly challenging about chairing it?

The whole thing is really just spinning plates. I think that can be quite stressful at times but ultimately there’s just so much good will about it from everyone, which takes the edge off a little bit!

Cardiff Fringe Theatre Festival, Multiple Venues, Cardiff, Sat 15 July – Sat 22 Jul. Ticket Avg: £5.30. Info: www.cardifffringetheatrefestival.co.uk