A feast of comedy, art and music gets under way tonight when the Norwich Fringe Festival 2011 kicks off with one of its showpiece acts.

Comedian Andrew O'Neill starts an impressive run of 16 consecutive nights of comedy at Take 5 on Tombland. Having previously worked with British comedy giant Steve Coogan on the BBC's cult comedy Saxondale and appeared at big music festivals, O'Neill is a big fish for the Fringe to have caught.

Festival director Amy Wragg, pictured right with festival media and PR officer Matt Colley, is thrilled to have him on board: 'Andrew is amazing. He's played to 5,500 people at Sonisphere before, so it's like having an international star for us.'

The Fringe team have been distributing the festival programme throughout the city and beyond in recent weeks, and even managed to get noticed by some famous faces. Miss Wragg explained: 'We even managed to get one of the programmes on to the open-top bus during the Norwich City celebrations, and one of the players was reading it!'

As well as Andrew O'Neill at Take 5 tonight, there is also Friday Night Dead, which will be making use of Friday the 13th with a show about ghost stories and paranormal experiences associated with Tombland.

A free fire performance skills workshop is being held at the Norwich Scout HQ on Jessop Road tonight, starting at 7pm, organised by a group called Articus, who combine art with circus skills.

The events at Take 5 start at 7.30pm tonight and finish at 11.30pm, with tickets costing �8 in advance or �10 on the door. Visit www.norwichfringefestival.com for more information on the dozens of events that are taking place in the city between today and May 28. You can also make a donation to support the festival if you have a Paypal account. Donations can also be sent as a cheque made out to 'Norwich Fringe Festival' and sent to 53 Northcote Road, Norwich, NR3 4QF. All donors will have their name added to the Fringe website as an official 'Friend of the Fringe'.

Are you planning a big event in Norwich? Contact David Freezer on 01603 772418 or email david.freezer@archant.co.uk Check out all the great events in Norwich in our Going Out guide tonight and at www.en24.co.uk/goingout