THE Estuary Fringe Festival is back for a fourth year running showcasing Southend’s artistic talent and hopes to bring a variety of art to all areas of the community.

The two week long ‘alternative festival‘ runs from Saturday July 30 to Sunday August 14 and hopes to be bigger than ever this year.

Organiser John Bulley feels the festival provides a space and opportunity for anyone in the borough to display their work- be it dance, poetry, art, music.

He said: “We are getting more and more support each year. We have got more people applying for everything. Especially the pop-up gallery which is going to be amazing.

“We have been involved with people who want to put their stuff up and there is nowhere in Southend for people to do this. If you are a local artist you have got nowhere to go. We are creating space that doesn’t exist and if we don’t do it, it is not there. Jo public has nowhere to go.”

He feels there are a number of events this year that have already proven particularly popular so expects a very high turnout.

Mr Bulley continued: “I’m assuming that more people will come to see what we are doing, especially given the number of people that have applied for the pop up gallery.

“The street art will be amazing because it is in such a good location.

“We have a fantastic BBQ night also. We will be doing a whole range of stuff, it is going to be fun. Everything we do is meant to be silly and fun. We started the Estuary Fringe Festival to lampoon the pretentious ones.”

This Saturday will be the opening of the pop-up gallery in the Victoria Plaza with live music in the evening from 7.30pm at O’Neil’s, Southend High Street.

On Thursday August 4 is the live poetry event at 7pm, at O’Neil’s, Southend High Street.

On Saturday August 6 is the art barbeque and music at the Railway Hotel, in Clifftown Road.

On Friday August 12 at 7pm is the Circus of Sin burlesque night, at O’Neil’s, Southend High Street.

On Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 is the street art event along Eastern Esplanade where a 100m board has already been put up in preparation for the weekend long event.

Some of the people we will have coming down to paint will be artists Pauli Bates, Stephen Ball and Giusi Tommassello.

Mark Sharp, festival organiser, added: “We certainly hope it will attract a lot of people, it’s the fourth year running.

“Every year that we have done it it has grown exponentially. When we did the first year we organised it in six weeks and had a few hundred people, but now we have got thousands.

“There is lots of stuff going on, we have Phil Burdett making his comeback since his operation and he is a legend in the Southend music scene.

“It is really important. We want to bring art to people that won’t normally go to art events. People think art is highbrow but it is not, art is for everyone. Art is just a form of entertainment and people shouldn’t be put off by it.”