It’s that time of the year when everyone has their annual pilgrimage to the Ventnor Fringe - a creative paradise that pops up in the parks of our Island’s southern-most town, big tops and marquees emerging, rammed with creatives. It’s bliss! 

I’ve been lucky enough to take a number of shows to Ventnor Fringe over the years and always cram in lots of time to watch awesome acts, presented in the jam-packed programme. 

As part of the week-long cultural celebration, Ventnor Fringe hosted a mini conference, discussing the future of arts on the Island.

All the bigwigs from the Arts Council and even our MP made an appearance (sadly, he missed out on a ticket to Bob: The Half A Sausage Musical, as they had all sold out a few nights before).

Read more: Five top things to see at Ventnor Fringe by Isle of Wight acts

I was asked to talk on one of the panel discussions about whether anything is actually going to change now the Island has become an Arts Council priority.

The answer is yes. It will and it must, but we’ve all got a job to do: Get creative. It’s infectious, it’s joyful, it’s good for the soul and it can change the world. Fact.

We make really cool stuff on the Isle of Wight. We must celebrate the incredible local new work.

We see so many venues and festivals giving us one night of 'X' comedian, all the way from the ‘mainland’ ("They must be good. They’re from the mainland.")

Our Island acts are not just filler, between the big mainland performers. They should be a core part of what makes our cultural scene amazing.

If you want a good night out, you can’t go wrong watching Quivers do their latest stand-up set, be blown away by the amazing talent at Beyond the West End, support talented young people performing in a new show or give that random spoken word night a try.

If you want better culture on the Island, we need to support, develop and nurture what we’ve got. Embrace local quirky charm, risk taking, naughtiness and bold, powerful storytelling. 

Old shops are becoming arts spaces, performances are popping up in the most unexpected places, any wall can be an art gallery.

If you want to feel proud of our towns and our Island, creativity is the key.

Don’t just support it, get involved. We can all be part of the Island’s cultural scene: Join that art class, start that band, send your kids to that theatre club, give stand-up comedy a go.

Who knows, you might be on the lineup for next year’s Fringe.

Yeah, it’s good the Arts Council’s purse strings have been loosened slightly for those wanting to do create work here, but we can all get behind the drive to be a creative island.

Come on Islanders, let’s do it. Back our local talent, support our creative friends, get involved and embrace the amazing work being born and bred on the Isle of Wight.