Paddock Wood Fringe launches in October 2026 as a community-led arts festival
Paddock Wood is hosting its first Paddock Wood Fringe this October — a month-long celebration of local creativity, participation, and community connection. It has the potential to span music, comedy, dance, written and spoken word, and visual art.
Running alongside the popular Paddock Wood Proms classical music concerts, which also take place throughout October, the Fringe offers something different: informal, inclusive, and firmly rooted in the life of the town. Its values are participation, curiosity, and connection, as much as performance.
Paddock Wood is a town that has changed considerably in recent years. Significant new housing development has brought many new residents who are still finding their feet locally — including a growing community from Hong Kong. There is a sizeable Roma community and many longer-established families and individuals. Like many commuter towns, it is also a place where some people spend their days elsewhere and can pass one another daily without ever really meeting. The Fringe is designed to change that.
The Fringe operates as an open-doors festival. Throughout October, community groups are invited to host performances, workshops, or creative sharings either in their usual or other venues. These could be a choir or music rehearsal, a ukulele session, a poetry reading, or something else entirely. The events will be brought together on a dedicated Fringe website, creating a shared programme that people can explore across the whole month.
Venues are likely to include Paddock Wood Community Centre, Paddock Wood Library, St Andrews Church, the John Brunt VC pub and village halls — the festival hopes to reach into surrounding villages as well as the town itself. Participating groups are expected to include Paddock Wood Community Voices and other music groups, including PW Ukulele Club. We are also anticipating a poetry reading group, an art exhibition and multi-faith activities.
The month will culminate in a larger showcase event, where participants from across the festival will come together to celebrate the breadth of creativity taking place across the area.
The cost of living crisis has made access to cultural activities harder for many families: The Paddock Wood Fringe is determined that money should never be a barrier to belonging. All events will be free to attend with donations welcomed but never expected, ensuring that everyone can take part regardless of their financial situation.
The Paddock Wood Fringe has grown out of inclusive, community-based music and wellbeing work already happening in Paddock Wood, where creativity has long been used as a tool to bring people together, reduce isolation, and support health and wellbeing. It is a non-profit organisation with its own constitution. October 2026 is its inaugural year, and the ambition is to build something that grows year on year with the town and its communities.
Full programme details, dates, and venues will be published on the Paddock Wood Fringe website paddockwoodfringe.org.uk and social media later in the year.
Contact:
Christine Spicer
press@paddockwoodfringe.org.uk
07463 545606 (dedicated line)