Who needs Edinburgh: Greater Manchester Fringe Festival

Okay, so if Edinburgh is the Glastonbury of fringe festivals – world renowned, expensive, difficult to get tickets to, packed for all the good things, in a part of the world you’ve no intention of going at any other time of the year – then the Greater Manchester Fringe is… well, a festival you’d actually like to attend. Held throughout July, it has premieres galore (Meanwhile, a play by Colin Connor about a girls’ football team in Belfast; Diabetic Penguins, a Jess Lee play set in a teenage mental health ward; and New Dawn Fades: The Story of Joy Division, by Brian Gorman being the pick of the bunch), performances by world-class comedians (Phil Jupitus, Gary Colman and Dan Nightingale are among the names confirmed) and some downright weird stuff too (Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, anyone?). They’ve even had two different ales brewed by Outstanding Beers of Bury to commemorate the month – one light and one dark, to be enjoyed alongside the comedy and drama respectively. It might not have Radio 4 presenters and Guardian journalists down the front at every show, but who cares? Not us.

Mon 1 – Wed 31 Jul, Various venues, various prices, greatermanchesterfringe.co.uk