ONE of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's most notable venues, the Udderbelly, is to have a new home in the far east.
Underbelly's Udderbelly is to make its international debut in Hong Kong later this year as part of the venue's long-term desire to expand overseas.
It is also likely that the venue and its brand will be staged in other countries in Asia in the coming years.
The Udderbelly venue, one of the most distinctive Fringe venues which forms the shape of an upturned purple cow, will be part of the Great European Carnival in the former UK colony. It is in the city after signing a deal with Hong Kong based Entertainment Asia Ltd (EAL).
Udderbelly Festival Hong Kong will run from December 4 to February 14, 2016.
The venue will host circus, dance, music and family shows, as well as comedy and cabaret over the weekends and holiday period.
Udderbelly will be staged on the Central Harbourfront Event Space, in the Central business district of Hong Kong.
Ed Bartlam, director of Underbelly, said: "The launch of Udderbelly Festival Hong Kong is the culmination of three years work to take our upside down purple cow to pastures new overseas.
"Hong Kong is one of the world’s great cities and our extraordinary location in the Central Business District will allow us to bring the best of what we do to the very heart of the city.
"Hong Kong is going to get its very own, expertly crafted slice of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and London’s Southbank, with something for all ages and audiences.
"Udderbelly is about fun, informality and accessibility and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Hong Kong is going to fall in love with Violet in just the same way that Londoners and visitors to the Fringe have."
Underbelly is one of the major venues of the Fringe: last year it sold more than 236,000 tickets for over 140 shows over a 25-day period.
Robert Ness, director of the British Council Hong Kong, said: "The British Council is very excited that some of the great Udderbelly entertainment that has enlivened the cultural life of Edinburgh and London in recent years will shortly be doing the same for Hong Kong.
"The arts scene in the UK has benefitted hugely from Udderbelly and the collaboration with HK will assuredly be just as successful. It's great news."
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