Enjoy The Show
Creators of Lancashire Fringe Festival and Lancashire Photography Festival

Programming for several venues in the North West of England. Associate Producer for the The Old Courts, Wigan.

This is the name we now promote our shows and events under, mainly so you can find out about us through this website or on Facebook. We’re on Instagram and Twitter as @EnjoyTheShowUK – and also @gazcook – he’s the person who organises and produces these shows and events (me).

We have two aims: To bring brilliant events and performances to Lancashire, and to introduce new audiences to arts and culture events. We want to give people a wonderful experience and, hopefully, have a positive impact on their view of the arts and performance. What we’ve found so far is that usually they come back for more.

We also try to make these visiting performers and the artists we work with feel as welcome as possible by looking after them, do all the marketing, promotion, printing, writing press releases, taking photos, feeding them and finding them beds to sleep in.

Testimonials

‘I’m working with Garry Cook because he has the skill set and time to do the important work, that I as an artist can’t always do. Garry is kind, tenacious and logical.  He is well-connected in both the North West and the North East and his background, knowledge and connections from working as a journalist for the  national press are invaluable.  As a photographer, film-maker and writer, who attends arts events of all disciplines, he understands how artists work. He is someone who will make a ‘to do’ list and actually do it in a timely fashion.  The arts industry lacks this focused, methodical skill set.  He is someone who will tirelessly promote my work- and the other artists he works with- which has resulted in sell-out events for me as well as introductions to several opportunities for me where I have been granted new work.  Garry is now focusing on developing his ‘professional’ practice as a producer and event manager- taking it to the next level so it’s the main focus of his working life.  I’m really happy to be involved with him at this point in his career where his  energy, motivation and passion for the arts can be harness to make great opportunities for audiences and artists.’
Louise Fazackerley

‘I thought Garry Cook was a spectacular events organiser – not only a lovely person to work with but someone who really cared about the poetry as well as the venue – the venue he chose for my gig was absolutely incredible. Highly recommend anyone to work alongside or with him.’
Hollie McNish

‘Garry was the promoter for my show visiting Ham and Jam last year and he was a fantastic. He worked incredibly hard on the event and the audience was nearly at capacity. It was one of the most pleasant shows I have done with no stress. I wish all promoters were as good as Garry.’
Jenny May Morgan

‘Garry is a really talented promoter. I was incredibly impressed with how hard he worked to get a decent audience for my show and how well all of his hard work paid off, with a sell out evening. I would definitely recommend him as a promoter and would love to work with him again.’
Jess Green

‘During the planning and the marketing of my event in Preston, Garry Cook was fabulous to work with and was tireless in his enthusiasm. Very professional, with great results. The show was a great success due to his relationships with local people and the venue. I hope to work with him again in the future. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!!!’
Ruth E Cockburn

‘Under difficult Covid restrictions I found the whole experience of working with Garry Cook to be smooth and seamless. I was impressed by his professionalism and ability to organise a challenging installation of my work. This consisted of organising the reproduction of 4 large 1.5×2.2m photographs to a high standard and mounted on a robust structure in Winckley Square parkland. I was very happy the way my 4 photographic images were displayed to the public and even more impressed that all 4 pictures were still in good condition after nearly 2 months in a public space.’
John Davies

‘It’s always a privilege to be involved in something from the beginning. If it doesn’t work out, at least you tried. If it achieves greatness, you can be proud to be have been there at the start. The inaugural Lancashire Photography Festival felt like the beginning of something immense. Lancashire Photography Festival delivered during a global pandemic was a huge achievement. I was extremely proud to have the opportunity to present my photography to a new and engaged audience. Congratulations to everyone who worked hard to produce the show and a special thanks to everyone who took the time to see it. Being involved in the pilot Lancashire Photography Festival was a thrilling and rewarding experience. I loudly applaud Garry Cook’s passion and commitment in bringing such an accessible and diverse show together in what must have been very testing circumstances.’
Peter Dench

Lancashire Fringe Festival (our standalone festival which was first held in 2016 in Preston) – this is how it works:

What is a fringe festival? It’s a performance festival, mainly involving performers, loosely based on Edinburgh Fringe (or Edinburgh festival Fringe to give it its proper title). Performance can mean anything from comedy and poetry to acting, dance, opera and, best of all, more surreal stuff. Anyone can take part in a fringe festival.

For the Lancashire Fringe Festival, we began by picking out who we think are the best performers at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and elsewhere and persuade them to come to Preston and perform. That means th people of Lancashire get to see the best performers at the festival – without having to buy a ticket. You just turn up and watch. We’re funded by Arts Council England so pay the performers. We still do this, but as the festival has developed we have introduced call outs for performers and now also commission new work, particularly aimed at Lancashire-based talent.

There must be a catch, something we have to pay for? Well, er, not really, well maybe… At the venues hosting the acts you will probably want to buy a drink (which helps pay for the use of the venue) and after each performance it would be nice if you put some money in a hat for the performer, which helps pay for their expenses. This is optional but is a well-worn custom in many of Edinburgh’s Fringe events.

Is there anything else we should know? Audience engagement is at the heart of what we do in Preston. As part of this, the shows are ticketless – you can just turn up. We will keep faith with this ideal for as long as we can. At some point, for some shows, we might have to introduce very low-cost tickets in order to manage numbers if we think we might totally sell out. For 2024, post festival there will be a 12-month program of subsidised tickets to help continue our audience engagement.

Why are you doing this?

We want to encourage people who do not go to the theatre to try it out.

We want to encourage those who have never seen performance poetry to experience it.

We want to encourage people who have never seen a fringe performance to give it a go.

We’re convinced you’ll love it. We’re passionate about performance and art. We know that once you’ve experienced it, you will want more. And because the performers are passionate about their art, they are also willing to come to Preston to put on a show.

I’m in two minds about this, I need a bit more convincing. Listen, if you spend 52 weekends a year doing the same thing every weekend, get drunk or watching the telly, try coming to this for just one night. We guarantee it’ll be the only weekend you’ll remember in years to come. You’ll have a wonderful, unforgettable night out. Or your money back.

What about you one-off gigs? These will continue – but at a ticket price that is sometimes half the price of what you will be paying in other NW towns and cities, nevermind some of the bigger cities across the UK. The shows we have been putting on over the past few years have seen some amazing performers and poets come to Preston – often for unique one-off gigs. We’re proud to offer audiences the chance to see the shows we love which would otherwise not come to Lancashire.