Harrogate Fringe Festival

“I was asked by Sharon Canavar, the chief executive, to put together a Fringe with no pay, no staff and no budget, and I said ‘Yes’,” says Graham, whose programme runs from Wednesday to July 31.

“That means it’s a true Fringe, as it retains a true element of independence, which is to the International Festival’s credit.”

Chalmers can call upon years of experience putting together a mix of live music and themed eclectic recordings at his innovative Charm nights in Harrogate, which have given him a useful contacts book too.

“The way I’ve put the Fringe together is that Harrogate already has a lot of talented and creative people doing interesting things under the radar, so a lot of the line-up represents their ideas as well as mine.

“The basic message is that Harrogate is not as Victorian as it looks,” says Graham, a Scotsman who has lived in Yorkshire for more than two decades.

“I would say that part of the problem with Harrogate’s image is Harrogate itself, so the biggest aim of the Fringe is to make Harrogate see itself as more modern than it perceives itself at present – and that will be to the benefit of the International Festival as well.”

Without the support and enthusiasm of Sharon Canavar, the Fringe festival would not have happened. “But essentially I’ve put it together in my spare time over the past four months, with the help of other creative people, who’ve also been doing it for the love of it,” says Graham.

“Any spare second I haven’t been working on it, I’ve felt guilty. My wife Sarah has come to dread the Fringe word.”

Putting guilt to one side, Graham has had “great fun putting the Fringe together because I’ve been allowed to assemble my dream list of creative events”.

“I’ve made a few mistakes along the way. Telling British Sea Power’s London agent after they’d agreed to the idea of playing a gig at the top of Harlow Hill Water that health and safety regulations meant everyone, including the band, would be required to wear hard hats and bright, reflective clothing in front of a crowd limit of just ten people wasn’t the best of moments,” he reveals.

“But the whole point of the Fringe is that great culture comes from great ideas so most of the events will involve the exploration of ideas rather than just being entertaining in themselves – and great culture is promiscuous. Ideas cross over to help to produce more exciting events.”

The festival has suffered the late blow of legendary broadcaster Bob Harris and The Magic Numbers pulling out of Wednesday’s opening event at Harrogate Theatre, “due to unforeseen circumstances”. However, the Fringe mix of music, art, literature and daft science will still feature the likes of folk pioneer Robin Williamson at St Peter’s Church; the first act of “psycho geography” at a secret location in the Dales and An Evening With Field Music at Harrogate Theatre.

“Rather than being a sleeping town, Harrogate is a very intelligent town and the Fringe aims to be as intelligent as its people,” says Graham. “The town has huge cultural potential, and the International Festival has to change, which is something it realises, and it’s brave enough to try to change by introducing the Fringe.”