The UK’s largest student creative show will return in 2021

The UK’s largest student-run music, dance, fashion and arts show has confirmed that it will go ahead in 2021.

Run by students and graduates from UWE Bristol and the University of Bristol, FUZE 2020 event took place just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK.

Since its inception in 2003, FUZE has combined the talents of local young people from across the city to showcase and raise money for charity.

FUZE has announced that it will hold its 2021 show in March and will raise money for Black South West Network (BSWN) and Art Refuge.

“FUZE 2021 is set to be our most ambitious show to date,” says commercial director Alexandra Hurst. “Our team is determined to raise even more money for charity and increase the audience capacity by at least 50 per cent to meet the growing demand within the student market for events other than club nights.”

FUZE’s show will return in 2021. Photo: Alice Sutton

The next FUZE show will begin with a marketplace event, with businesses from Red Bull to Park Street’s Mrs Potts Chocolate House taking part, followed by a performance of of fashion, dance and music. The FUZE 2021 show will then be followed by an afterparty.

“FUZE 2021 is set to be one of the most unique events in the student calendar with focus on furthering the avant-garde approach,” says managing director Pippa Adamthwaite-Cook.

2021 will showcase powerful and diverse performers, inspired by innovative designers on the margins of society.

“We understand the danger of appropriation when aligning one’s aesthetic with the idea of ‘camp’ or the avant-garde; too often are minority designers stepped over and stolen from by mainstream culture,” Pippa adds.

“FUZE’s approach to this would be to insistently pay homage to the appropriate communities from which the design references are made.”

2021 will showcase powerful and diverse performers, drawn from innovative designers on the margins of society. Photo: Alice Sutton

The show will be based on an ethical foundation of sustainability, avoiding fast fashion and promoting planet-friendly alternatives.

2021’s show will see more than 130 students take part and raising the profile of FUZE in the wider Bristol community.

Having raised more than £125,000 for Bristol charities since 2003, the organisers, of which there are around 30, hope to add to the money already raised while following Government guidelines and keeping everyone safe from the coronavirus.

FUZE 2021 will take place in March. Photo: Alice Sutton

The money raised will be split between BSWN and Art Refuge.

“We believe we should support BSWN because of how communities of colour have suffered during the coronavirus pandemic and the long standing injustices that have been illuminated by the George Floyd protests,” say the FUZE team.

“Art Refuge uses art and therapy to support the mental health and well-being of people displaced due to conflict, persecution and poverty. We want to support Art Refuge because they conduct immensely important and necessary work to a growing population of people in Bristol that have been negatively affected.”

The FUZE team will also host events throughout the academic year.

2020’s show took place at the Loco Klub. Photo: Jessica Li

“FUZE is the UK’s largest student charity fashion, dance and music event, run by students, but I feel it is so much more than the event held annually in March.

“FUZE is a community of creative minds, which strives to create an inclusive and diverse environment in which people can explore their creative potential and work within a professional environment outside of the university.

“Ultimately, FUZE will be a seamless experience in which each element of FUZE is indubitably tied together.”

Main photo: Alice Sutton

Read more: Student fashion event to raise money for mental health sufferers