Brian Cox's dire warning about Edinburgh Festival Fringe must be heeded

As the curtain came down on the last of more than 61,000 performances at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a cursory glance might suggest it is in rude health ahead of next year’s 80th anniversary. After all, there were 4,232 shows, performers from 77 countries, and more than 2.8 million tickets issued.

However, the growing chorus of concerns about the cost of visiting the city during August cannot be ignored, including the latest from one of Scotland’s best-known actors, Brian Cox, star of Succession and a Fringe Society patron.

He said he’d struggled to find a hotel room for less than £400 a night when booking accommodation for this year’s Fringe, and warned: “If something is not done, it will implode... These hotel prices will just go on and on getting higher. And eventually, a lot of these young people who come to perform at the Fringe will stop coming.”

Performers from 77 different countries, including Zambian acrobatic circus show Afronauts, appeared at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images

READ MORE: Edinburgh Fringe 'needs to reflect on what it wants to be' in 80th year as ticket sales rise by 8 per cent

‘No Fringe without artists’

Tony Lankester, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, citing Richard Gadd, of Baby Reindeer fame, said that “the Fringe remains the only place where someone can arrive with an idea and leave with a career”. However, he also warned there “would be no Fringe without artists and the risks they take”. Indeed.

Edinburgh risks becoming a victim of its own success and pricing itself out of the market. There are plenty of other cities which would love to flirt with such dangers.

One reason why hotel prices are high is the newly introduced tourist tax. Yet during a discussion about giving some of the revenue raised to the festivals, Edinburgh City Council’s culture committee convener Margaret Arma Graham remarked that they were “only one of the pegs that our reputation as a city hangs on”.

That may be, strictly speaking, true, but it is an extraordinarily large and important peg – and not one to be downplayed, least of all by a culture convener.

The UK government, which contributed funds towards an £8 million refurbishment of the Fringe Society’s headquarters, appears to understand the economic and cultural importance of this marvellous event. Politicians in Edinburgh and Scotland may need a refresher course.