Cockrell Fringe Festival becomes platform that fosters and showcases young talent

Created with the aim of celebrating the many faceted talents of emerging young artists from Sri Lanka, The Cockrell Fringe Festival in Galle was all about anarchic fun without the guilt and brought to the forefront innovative, diverse, and daring new works that provided a forum for artists in which they honed their craft while making important professional and audience connections.

This multi-day, multi-venue festival, the first of its kind, held this January from the 13-14th, had an incredibly successful start helped by volunteers from the American Fulbright Scholar Program, led by Sophia Deady.

The host of young talented artists from all genres, that included writers, painters, musicians, poets, a topless baker and performance artists, rocked the stage with their new and reinvigorating performances to culturally adventurous audiences. 

Through their work the young writers and poets provided the public a chance to witness some cutting-edge non-juried performances and to explore the edges of some exciting new works. Workshops to encourage new writers were kicked off by acclaimed author Professor Neluka Silva, from University of Colombo.

The young artists included Sachinee Seneviratne, Sri Lankan writer and poet based in Melbourne, who through her collection themed ‘Losing Sleep’ wrote on topics of love, loss, family and social issues.

Grace Wickremasinghe’s ‘Closure’, a collection of poetry and prose also short listed for the Gratiaen Prise 2016, resonated with youth and talked about love, heartbreak, women’s rights and self-confidence with a tone that was unapologetic and unabashed,  using rhyme, metaphors and freestyle to get her message across.

Chamindra  Warusawitharane’s ‘Lost Voyages’, was the story of a journey filled with adventure, both delightful and terrifying, whilst Biman Wimalaratne’s ‘Shakespeare on Cocaine’, touched on many social issues through thought provoking and eyebrow raising thoughts.

Newcomer Sri Lankan author Imanthi Perera showcased her book ‘Ink Theory’ comprising of poems and short stories reflecting a journey of self-discovery, driven by positive thinking, intended to help individuals realise their undiscovered potential and embark on a journey of achieving their purpose in life.

Sri Lankan artist Yanti Rajap Lebbe celebrated her return home after three decades to Galle with an exhibition of her paintings of Galle Fort.

One of the star attractions was ‘The Topless Baker’ Don Kevin Ketagoda who wowed the audience with discussions on many luscious and tasty treats and the passion for food. Food blogger, writer and poet Jayani Senanayake had the pleasure of having Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe watching her poetry recital.

The open mic night hosted many acts from around the island that had tourists collaborating with the musicians. Young Norwegian backpacker joined Tantalise 2015 winning band ‘The Odyssey’ on bass, while American Susan Weatherly also on holiday led the vocals for Nigerian student Emmanuel Ese on keyboards. Musician Mario Ananda from Colombo stole the show playing his new material for the first time in a breath taking performance. The diversity of the festival was highlighted when celebrated Sri Lankan singer Rukshan Perera gave a stunning audio visual performance.

Dom Mee, founder of the event, commented, “The energy from the young participants was amazing. We are pioneering a youth event learning from this first festival to make the next one bigger and better driven by the young artists’ requirements. I remain committed to the event along with our sponsor Mercmarine Training. We are building for the future encouraging young artists to fulfil their potential and collaborate with likeminded people fostering friendship.”

Held to encourage, enrich and promote local artists and help bring their craft to the forefront, the Cockrell Fringe Festival achieved their goal of nurturing and cultivating a host of young artists to deliver some great performances and a showcase of talent that culminated in an inspiring celebration of the creative arts in Sri Lanka.