World’s fringe festivals to meet in Edinburgh

A street performer on the Royal Mile during the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe. Picture: Jane Barlow

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society today announced that it will host the event in the city this August.

The three-day event is expected to cover topics such as how to run box office and IT services, and develop effective sponsorship strategies as well as discussions on issues such as the role of arts festivals in the cultural landscape.

This year’s Congress is part of the Culture 2014 Programme, which accompanies the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Kath M Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “It’s particularly fitting that the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society hosts the Congress in 2014, given the colourful and diverse cultural calendar Scotland has planned for this year.

“Fringes are among the most vibrant cultural events in the world and I believe having the Congress in Edinburgh truly enriches Scotland’s cultural activity in 2014.

“This event gives fringe organisers the opportunity to sit around the table and openly discuss similarities and differences in terms of how each of their festivals operates. This means we are able to identify how we can work together and strengthen the bond among fringes across the world.”

She added: “The World Fringe Congress is a really exciting cultural development and after the success of the 2012 World Fringe Congress I think the 2014 Congress promises to be a stimulating and lively event.”

Registration is now open for the Congress, which runs from 15 to 17 August 2014 and is part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The first ever meeting of the World Fringe Congress was held in the city in 2012 and was attended by 74 delegates representing 47 fringes from 16 countries across six continents.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe describes itself as the largest arts festival on the planet. In 2013, there were 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows in 273 venues.