Festivals to unite under single online ticket office

Published on Sunday 23 August 2009 22:38

TICKETS for all of Edinburgh's festival events will be available through a single online box office from next summer – more than five years after the idea was first mooted.

Agreement has been reached which will see the creation of a "one-stop shop" for tickets which promises to curb lengthy queues at festival venues across the city.

It is also hoped to bring an end to the current situation which forces festival-goers to make different transactions for tickets for various Fringe venues, and events at the likes of the Book Festival, the Tattoo and the Edinburgh International Festival.

The Expedia-style system is expected to offer joint packages between festivals and more cut-price ticket offers, as well as help reduce administration and booking fees for festival goers.

Festivals will be expected to encourage more "cross-selling", as currently happens between leading Fringe venues. Another key aim is to attract first-time visitors to Edinburgh from around the world.

The joint box office venture was first proposed in 2004, but has been delayed to allow detailed research into software packages to be carried out and secure agreement from festival organisers.

The venture was also put on hold last year due to the problems with the Fringe's own online box office, which collapsed on the first day sales opened and brought the festival to the brink of bankruptcy.

The new system is expected to be tested out during next year's summer festivals, but will be extended for other events like the Hogmanay celebrations and the capital's science and film festivals, which are held in April and June respectively.

It is being jointly co-ordinated by The Audience Business, an audience development agency for arts groups, and Festivals Edinburgh, the umbrella body which represents the city's 12 main events.

Faith Liddell, director of Festivals Edinburgh, said: "Next year we'll be introducing a pilot of the ticketing portal, which uses an Expedia-style system to link individual box offices and so requires all the ticketing systems to work effectively.

"Therefore, by next year, tickets for all 12 of the major festivals will be (able to be] purchased through a single shopping basket."

A spokesman for the Fringe, which has reported ticket sales for this year up to 20 per cent ahead of previous record figures, said: "Performers and producers continue to be attracted to the Edinburgh Fringe in record numbers and for that to continue we need to increase our audiences.

"Reaching out to people with little or no experience of the Fringe and showing them the exciting world class variety of entertainment on offer will be a priority over the coming years.

"To attract potential Fringe-goers for the first time, we will need to make it as easy as possible for them to purchase their tickets."