The Future of Edinburgh Festival Fringe
What does the future of the Scottish festival look like for artists, audience members and venues?
For many, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the highlight of their year, whether that be for performers who spend most of the year prior making arrangements, the venues that host these performances or audience members who travel from all over the world to attend.
Where it all began and how it’s going...
Spanning its nearly 80-year history, the festival began in 1947 when eight theatre groups arrived uninvited to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival, which was created following the Second World War to celebrate and enrich European cultural life. This group, despite not being part of the official EIF programme, performed on the fringes of the festival and year on year other theatre groups followed suit. In 1958 the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society was created in response to the growing success of the trend and everything became formalised.
Now, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world, welcoming more than 400,000 tourists annually. The festival has grown vastly over the years but faces some challenges, particularly post-Covid. Following arts funding cuts, accommodation issues and rising living costs, there are concerns for emerging artists that the festival is not as accessible as it once was or needs to be. Some of the major venues at the fringe shone some light on the history of the festival and the issues it needs to overcome in order to keep the magic of the festival alive.
Edinburgh. Photo: Molly Toolan
Edinburgh. Photo: Molly Toolan
A view of Edinburgh from Princes Street Gardens. Photo: Molly Toolan
A view of Edinburgh from Princes Street Gardens. Photo: Molly Toolan
“The hierarchy of fringe venues is huge. I tend to think of it as the big three; Assembly, Pleasance, Underbelly and then you’ve got the trendy cousin Summerhall.” – Performer Sarah Cameron West
Venues and ventures
Assembly founder and artistic director William Burdett-Coutts highlighted how far the festival has come saying: “The fringe has grown enormously over the years. I first came in 1979 and the entire fringe back then was probably around the same size as Assembly’s current festival programme.”
Burdett-Coutts explained that despite the fringe coming after the EIF, it has somewhat taken over: “When I started the fringe used to be likened to the carriages behind the train that was the Edinburgh International Festival, but these days it far eclipses its more formal classical neighbour. It has become the biggest showcase in the world for live performance.”
Anthony Alderson. Photo: Elly White
Anthony Alderson. Photo: Elly White
“You don’t need to assimilate to a standard culture. The fringe is so various in its content and its people.” – Deputy chief executive of the Fringe Society Lyndsey Jackson
A new era?
The role of the fringe society is to make sure that artists have information, advice, support and context so they can make informed decisions about how they are going to approach the fringe and maximise the opportunity.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society’s deputy chief executive Lyndsey Jackson highlighted how the festival has evolved over the past 10 years: “We are much better at inclusivity and making people feel welcome. It’s an open access festival. It’s open to all and we are working to remove barriers.”
“The economy of the fringe is very finely balanced and we work very hard to keep the economy within the fringe rather than letting value be extracted externally.” - Lyndsey Jackson
She continued: “The festival is almost entirely funded by the individuals who are bringing their shows. There’s not a huge amount of funding coming from the public purse and that should change.
“Artists and venues are mindful of the cost burden not being entirely met by audiences. There’s no desire in the collective will of the fringe to hike up ticket prices to meet the cost of things because it doesn’t speak to the open access principle that this festival has.”
Alderson added: “Raising ticket prices is at present the only way to address the problem however, this will greatly limit access to those who cannot afford it and doesn’t address the underlying problem of rising costs within the city.”
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Sarah Cameron West in KAREN at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Ed Rees
Increasing popularity and road blocks
Information from the past ten years, provided by the Fringe Society, shows that ticket sales have not yet reached pre-Covid levels but that they are on the up.
Prior to the Covid lockdowns the Edinburgh festival was at its height with the number of fringe tickets sold was increasing year on year and with sales in 2019 reaching more than three million.
In 2020, the festival was cancelled due to Covid, but it returned the following year just on a much smaller scale, with only 381,192 tickets being sold.
Next year, Oasis will play shows in Edinburgh over the first weekend of the fringe. There has been some controversy around this as the opening weekend is always the busiest weekend for the festival and with stretched resources for accommodation as it is, many are fearing that there won't be any affordable places to stay. Some people are even opting out of attending the festival next year for this very reason.
So while the ticket sales appear to be on an upwards trajectory, next year may buck the trend. Perhaps some Oasis fans will pop in for a comedy show or two?
Mhari Aitchison and Becca Fielden in Bedtime Stories at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Photo: Becca Fielden
Mhari Aitchison and Becca Fielden in Bedtime Stories at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Photo: Becca Fielden
Mhari Aitchison and Becca Fielden in Bedtime Stories at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Photo: Becca Fielden
Mhari Aitchison and Becca Fielden in Bedtime Stories at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Photo: Becca Fielden
Mhari Aitchison and Becca Fielden in Bedtime Stories at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Photo: Becca Fielden
Mhari Aitchison and Becca Fielden in Bedtime Stories at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Photo: Becca Fielden
Supporting artists
The Fringe Society also offers a fund targeted at artists called the Keep It Fringe Fund.
“If there is a funding solution it is our Keep it Fringe Fund, which is directly targeted at artists because they are the engine that powers the whole festival,” Jackson said.
“There is a need to invest in artists to make new work. The point of the fringe is new and innovative and times to do things differently. There needs to be space to fail. The funding, as little as it is, certainly doesn’t cover the space to try and fail and try again and that is something we should be collectively fighting for.”
Lyndsey Jackson on Edinburgh being the home of the fringe
Lyndsey Jackson on the experience of the fringe
For Jackson, the focus of the festival should be on the artists themselves and the relationships they make while attending the fringe. That sense of community, felt by audiences and venues, is what is at the heart of the arts festival.
A view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill. Photo: Molly Toolan
A view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill. Photo: Molly Toolan
Edinburgh. Photo: Molly Toolan
Edinburgh. Photo: Molly Toolan
The real magic of the fringe
There have been many performers who started out at the fringe to go on to have hugely successful careers spanning stage and screen. Phoebe Waller-Bridge who wrote and starred in the TV show Fleabag following its start at the fringe, and Richard Gadd who also wrote and starred in Baby Reindeer, which grew from the fringe on to TV screens via Netflix, are recent stars but others who got their start at the fringe include Alan Rickman, Judi Dench and Emma Thompson.
Sarah Cameron West has performed her show KAREN at the fringe over the past couple of years and to sold out audiences. She was a part of Soho Theatre Labs and self-funded her act. Her one-woman show focused on the fallout of her boyfriend breaking up with her mid-Calippo while having a day out at Alton Towers.
She said: “I don’t really want to be anywhere else in August other than Edinburgh – it’s my favourite place to be.”
She spoke about the difficulties she faced in doing this and why having a PR really can help to get you noticed.
Sarah Cameron West during an interview via zoom with Molly Toolan. Video: Molly Toolan
Sarah Cameron West during an interview via zoom with Molly Toolan. Video: Molly Toolan
Cameron West is excited for the future of her show as KAREN is currently being pitched for TV and meetings with production companies have taken place regarding developments for both TV and radio.
“It’s definitely a rollercoaster. You do live in a permanent state of anxiety if you’re taking your own show.” – Sarah Cameron West
Performer Becca Fielden told me all about how she built her show Bedtime Stories with her best friend alongside a 9-5 job. The show itself featured tales from throughout the girls' friendship and also some original songs. It had been a bucket list moment for the two but didn’t come without its stresses.
Fielden said: “A really weird part of the fringe that we found, not sure if it was just our venue, was that we weren’t allowed to see our venue until the day before we were performing.”
“You’re paying for something before you even see it. The way some things are run in the fringe is a bit crazy. It’s a lot of work, lots of paperwork and that’s before you’ve even written the show.”
Fielden spoke about funding being the main barrier facing artists that don't already live in Edinburgh and if travelling to the city for the festival is worth it.
Becca Fielden during an interview with Molly Toolan via Zoom. Video: Molly Toolan
Becca Fielden during an interview with Molly Toolan via Zoom. Video: Molly Toolan
It's high risk, high reward." – Performer Rebecca Fielden
Dedicated to the cause
Jo Caruana is a huge lover of the fringe and has been attending as an audience member for more than 20 years. “I went to my first fringe on holiday when I was 17, I’m now 40 and I’ve never missed a year (except the cancelled Covid year),” she said.
“At it’s core I think a lot of the fringe is still the same. It’s a great opportunity to see brilliant new artists.” – CEO of Finesse PR Jo Caruana
Jo Caruana, CEO of Finesse PR. Photo: Bernard Polidano
Jo Caruana, CEO of Finesse PR. Photo: Bernard Polidano
“I always have the same system, I come for about five days and absolutely blitz it from nine in the morning until one, two in the morning. I still get the same exciting feeling every year.”
Based just outside of London, Caruana said: “I bring new friends every year and they are always blown away. It’s absolutely worth travelling for.
“The prices have evolved and that’s the biggest change, but for me it’s a holiday so I’m there ready to spend the money.
“It’s one of the best things to do in the world.”
Photo: Pexels
With a new CEO of the Fringe Society next year, changes could be ahead for the festival as it hopes to reach it's pre-Covid heights.
Image Credits
Pexels
Elly White
Ed Rees
Rebecca Fielden
Molly Toolan
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society
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