After 53,232 performances of 3,398 shows in 300 venues across Edinburgh, the curtain falls and the house lights go up on the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It’s been a record-breaking year, with almost 2.7 million tickets sold for the annual arts extravaganza.
The 2017 Fringe included performances in a swimming pool, a boat, a bathroom, a football ground, a tunnel and a racecourse, and featured shows that addressed themes of belonging, identity, grief, Brexit, Trump, fake news, the Syrian conflict, gender and activism.
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “This has been a very special year for the Fringe as we celebrated 70 years of defying the norm, 70 years of the greatest melting pot of arts and culture anywhere on the planet, and 70 years of Edinburgh as an internationally renowned festival city. The Fringe continues to play an essential role in the worldwide arts community, enabling artists to showcase their work, reach new audiences and make new connections.
“I hope that everyone that has attended a show, watched a street performance, or spent time in one of the hundreds of venues around the city has enjoyed their Fringe experience.
“In the current climate of global uncertainty, we were delighted to see an increase of 29% in the number of countries represented in this year’s Fringe Programme. We will continue to work to support global engagement and international participation in the Fringe over the coming years.
“As the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe draws to a close, we look forward to another 70 years of championing the world’s largest platform for creative freedom.”
Sir Tim O’Shea, Fringe Society Chair added: “After 70 great years, the 2017 Fringe has been the most spectacular success. On behalf of the of the audiences from home and abroad that have enjoyed the Fringe this year, I would like to thank the thousands of participants that have entertained and inspired us. The Fringe would not be possible without the courage, creativity and sheer hard work of the festival’s participants, and for that we are very grateful.”
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs said: “In its 70th anniversary year the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has again attracted artists and audiences from across the world to enjoy a breath-taking array of performance art against the spectacular backdrop of our capital city.
“The Fringe contributes strongly to Scotland’s culture and economy and is key to the growth of our tourism and creative industries. I am proud to support its continued growth through the Expo Fund, the additional funding we provided for the inaugural World Fringe Day this year, and the extra £5 million we will invest in Edinburgh’s major festivals over the next five years.”
More people than ever attended shows at the Fringe with an estimated 2,696,884 tickets issued for shows across Scotland’s capital. The number of tickets issued reflects a 9% increase compared to tickets issued by the same point last year.
In July this year, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society launched the inaugural World Fringe Day (worldfringeday.com), celebrating the birth of the fringe movement that started in Edinburgh in 1947 and has inspired a network of over 200 fringes around the world. Over 100 fringes participated in World Fringe Day, reaching an estimated 34 million people across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. To celebrate World Fringe Day in Edinburgh, the Fringe Society gifted £50,000 of Fringe Box Office vouchers to families and individuals via 26 charities across the city. Lothian Buses also partnered with the Fringe Society to give free day tickets to those families and individuals, enabling to them to enjoy a Fringe day out for free.
The Fringe Society continued to work towards making the Fringe more accessible with the introduction of a Venue Access Award, developed in partnership with charity Attitude is Everything. The award provides venue managers with a minimum standard of accessibility to aim for and offers different levels of achievement. This year we also provided a Mobiloo, the world’s first attended mobile toilet and changing facility for people with disabilities who can’t use a standard accessible toilet, in partnership with disability charity PAMIS.
The Fringe Schools Poster Competition, supported by Virgin Money, engaged with more schools than ever before, as school pupils across Scotland were given the opportunity to inspire the design of the official Fringe Programme. The Fringe Society worked with artist Jon Bishop, aka the Grey Earl, to enhance participation from teachers and young people and, as a result, 60% of the entrants to the competition were from Scottish schools that had not engaged with the Fringe before. Winning designs were chosen from three age categories and three different programme covers were created that have been enjoyed by thousands of visitors to the city this summer.
Fringe Central, the Society’s centre for performing companies, venues, media and arts industry professionals attending the Fringe, delivered its largest ever programme of professional development events for Fringe participants. 119 free events covered a variety of topics including international touring, participation and engagement, and skills development. The Fringe Central Welcome Address was delivered by Ireland’s foremost drag queen, Panti Bliss, the stage name of performer and equality champion, Rory O’Neill.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from 3 – 27 August 2018 with the Fringe World Congress taking place in Edinburgh from 16 – 20 August.
Can hardly wait ….!
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