The first-ever Machynlleth Fringe is to launch the same weekend as the famous Machynlleth Comedy Festival this May.

The community-run fringe stage aims to “flip the script” on the 11-year-old festival to “showcase the diverse talent that makes Machynlleth pulse with creativity”.

The grassroots group hopes to make the stage an “accessible and open performance space” at the town’s Hwb Cymunedol Taj Mahal Community Hub To do this Fringe organisers are calling for local talent: “One weekend a year the world’s stage comes to Machynlleth, so let’s fill it!

“We are incredibly excited about the Mach Fringe and can't wait to showcase, share and celebrate all the diverse and homegrown talent that makes up our community!

“And what better venue than the Taj Mahal Hwb, which is at the heart of supporting our local community?

“In collaboration with Radio Dyfi, Jackdaw Theatre and Mach Pride, we are looking for local performers, DJ's, musicians, poets, drag artists, cabaret acts and decor enthusiasts to join us and be part of the Mach Fringe; A Community In Progress Celebration!”

Mach Fringe will run concurrently with the long-running Comedy Festival from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 May.

The initiative is said to have launched to address lack of representation from local talent in the mainstream festival and make an accessible alternative with ‘pay what you can’ tickets and ‘open to all’ parties each evening.

The lineup so far includes a launch party on the Friday night, an ‘eclectic soiree’ on the Saturday and a ‘comedy cabaret’ on the Sunday evening.

The organisers added: “The comedy festival attracts lots of comedians, artists and performers from further afield but doesn't necessarily have space for our local homegrown talent.

“Mach Fringe is about using the opportunity that the comedy festival brings and the Taj Mahal Hwb to put on an accessible and open performance space.” The organisers are looking for potential funders, local talent to fill the stage and decor enthusiasts to “create a venue to remember” in the old Bangladeshi restaurant building on Heol Pen'Rallt.

To get involved get in touch with the group on [email protected].