Gilded Balloon wraps up 2024 Fringe with over 128,000 tickets issued

OVER 128,912 TICKETS ISSUED AND 2484 PERFORMANCES FOR GILDED BALLOON’S 39TH FRINGE

One of Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s longest running venues, Gilded Balloon, has rounded off their 39th Fringe season, with over 128,912 tickets issued this month.

Operating in three venues including Patter House, the National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh Street Food, Gilded Balloon’s programme hosted some of the biggest hits of the Fringe including Mhairi Black’s debut, a sold out run for Andy Gray tribute Chemo Savvy, and debuts from rising stars like Kim Blythe and Chris Weir. 

In a year which saw Gilded Balloon operate without their main venue Teviot Row House due to refurbishment, 2024’s Fringe Festival saw an impressive: 

• over 128,914 tickets issued in 2024
• 2484 performances from 31st July – 26th August 
• 3 venues: Patter House, National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh Comedy Social at Edinburgh Street Food 
• 131 shows in 12 sub venues 
• 1213 Support the Artist tickets sold – customers choosing to give an extra £2 per ticket which goes directly to artists
• 440 sold out shows 
• over 86 comedy shows, 23 theatre and music shows, plus a mix of kids shows, cabaret, spoken word and more 
• 1 brand new So You Think You’re Funny? champion with Glaswegian Alana Jackson claiming this year’s crown alongside Ciara O’Connor and Ayo Adenekan in second and third place respectively. The three comics came out on top from an impressive 597 original applicants 
• Khawla Ibraheem awarded the Filipa Bragança Award for her performance in Oliver Butler’s A Knock on the Roof
• over 1500 cans of Gilded Balloon’s very own ‘Hiya Pals’ IPA from local brewers Newbarns
• 1 new pop up bar, Lucky Penny, welcomed some of Edinburgh’s best foodies to the city with pop-ups from Spitaki’s, Alby’s and more
• 1 new charity partner with this year’s Pink Wednesday charity day raising money for Waverley Care 

Karen and Katy Koren, Artistic Directors of Gilded Balloon said, “2024 was another fantastic year, and Gilded Balloon’s 39th, at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“We welcomed over 128,912 people to our venues to see some outstanding shows across comedy, theatre, musical and kids, as well as sell out runs for Scottish shows including Mhairi Black: Politics Isn’t For Me, Chemo Savvy and Jack Docherty in The Chief. We’ve cemented schemes like Support the Artist, which puts money back in our artists’ pockets and even introduced our own pop up bar this year in collaboration with local brewery Newbarns. 

“Our first year in over 23 years without our main venue Teviot Row House has, of course, seen changes to our capacity and amount of shows we could programme, so we’re really looking forward to returning for Fringe 2025. Next year will be Gilded Balloon’s 40th anniversary and we have some hugely exciting plans in the works for returning to a refreshed and refurbished Teviot Row House. 

“We’re also so proud to have crowned Glaswegian Alana Jackson as this year’s outstanding winner of So You Think You’re Funny? alongside Ciara O’Connor and Ayo Adenekan in second and third place. From 597 applicants to 10 finalists, it was a fiercely competitive year and, as ever, SYTYF? is a real bright spark for us as comedy producers with so many talented newcomers on the scene. 

“However, in a time of constant cuts facing the arts scene, the future of competitions like SYTYF? are precarious and it’s harder than ever for new artists to make their way in the industry.

“We’d like to say a huge thanks to everybody who has supported our artists this year by buying a ticket to their shows this Fringe – it’s more important than ever to support artists where you can, and we’ll see you next year for a pinktastic celebration back at Teviot!” 

Gilded Balloon’s 2024 Fringe programme saw debuts from rising comedy stars like Nate Kitch, Kathleen Hughes, Chris Weir, Kim Blythe, and Christopher Hall, as well as mainstays of the comedy scene like Jack Docherty, Michelle Brasier and Grace Campbell.

The month included sold out runs for Mhairi Black’s debut show, Paul Black’s brand new show,  and Chemo Savvy, the emotional comedy-play in tribute to Andy Gray. Plus, Fringe stars like Hypnotist Matt Hale and magician Cameron Young entertained audiences throughout August, whilst Gilded Balloon’s legendary Late’n’Live was once against hosted by an all-female and non-binary line-up, welcoming the very best acts from across the Fringe to the late night show