Kath Mainland: Why the Fringe is the greatest show on Earth

Published on Saturday 29 August 2009 19:51

Our open access means anyone with a vision can bring a show to Edinburgh

AS I sit here early in the morning on one of the last mornings of the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe the sun is shining, and I hope it will continue to shine on the tens of thousands of performers and producers who have chosen to bring their art to this fine festival and the hundreds of thousands of people who have also chosen to come here to see what they can do.

In July, we were cautiously optimistic, although it seemed as if many people were thinking that if swine flu didn't get us first then the tram works would grind the whole place to a shuddering halt. And, of course, everyone was waiting to see what effect the recession would have.

After last year's problems it was no surprise that a lot of people were watching the Fringe box office very closely this year. Helping venues and performers sell tickets is one of the primary reasons that the Fringe Society was established. The scale of the box-office operation is striking. In June, when our box office opened, we put on sale, on the same day, tickets for more than 34,000 separate performances. It was vital that confidence in our ability to run an efficient operation was restored. That is why, over the winter, a lot of work was done to build and test a robust box-office system that we were confident would deliver. We have worked closely with our partners, Red61, to deliver a state-of-the-art system, and it is gratifying that the box office has operated efficiently.We should at all times remain focused on making sure that Festival-goers have the best possible experience of the Fringe from the moment they decide to buy their tickets until the last encore.

I hope it's not too early to say that the 2009 Fringe has, perhaps against the odds, been a glorious success. As the Fringe draws to a close we can look back on a month of exceptional ticket sales and one of the best Festivals in my 20 years in and around Edinburgh.

Why, in these difficult times, should that be? Even in tough economic conditions festivals chime with people in a way few other events manage to. Festivals give us an opportunity to experience our own culture in an international context, to turn the spotlight on ourselves, see ourselves as others see us, and to redefine our perceptions. And as we live through times when world events can seem to overtake us and we are uncertain of what the future might hold we all need to interpret what this means for us. And perhaps we just need cheering up. The Fringe, it would seem to me, is perfect for both.

There are many reasons why you would choose to bring a show to the Fringe, but this year it seems as though the process of making art is as important as ever. The Fringe has been concerned with domestic issues and family; nostalgia seems to have been a dominant theme, as we look backwards as well as forwards to understand the society we are living in.

At the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe is our founding principle of open access. This means that anyone with an idea and a vision, anyone who can find the resources, both creative and financial, can bring a show to Edinburgh. Nobody will tell them that they can't come or that they are not good enough. It can be incredibly difficult and expensive to bring work here, but the fact that people make that commitment off their own backs is part of why such great work is made here.

It is the unique nature of the Fringe that continues to attract performers here in ever-increasing numbers each year. It is the joy of welcoming all performers with open arms that fills the Fringe with its own unique energy and buzz. It also means that as chief executive I can no more direct how many shows there are, or at what venues they will perform, at than I can stop the rain.

The Fringe is what it is – a strange and wonderful beast with a life of its own. Yes, we can and will work tirelessly to improve the experience for our performers and our audiences, but remove the open-access ethos and you will lose the very thing which makes the Fringe special. The Fringe is also dynamic and remarkably light on its feet for such a mammoth beast. In 2009 there have been more ways to see more shows for less money than ever before. Venues across the city have reacted to this year's tough economic conditions by coming up with innovative ways to attract Festival-goers.

Once the Fringe is over, one of the things we will look at is the costs associated with bringing a show to Edinburgh – we need accurate information on this. For example, most Fringe performers stay in privately owned accommodation while in Edinburgh and there are no obvious solutions to mitigating against these costs – but the first step is to have robust information on the current situation with which to begin looking for imaginative and creative solutions that will allow the Fringe to thrive for years to come.

And, of course, there is another glorious week of the Edinburgh International Festival, and many delights in store before the summer season draws to a close with the fireworks next Sunday. But as Fringe performers start to pack up, and venues start the long process of deconstructing the amazing theatres they took such care in creating, I would like to thank them all for coming here, for taking risks, and for making the Edinburgh Festival Fringe not just the largest arts festival in the world, but the greatest.

• Kath M Mainland is the chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society