Edinburgh Festival Fringe should stop growing and become smaller and better instead – Stephen Jardine
The Fringe needs to be a more rewarding experience for performers and local people
A week after it ended, the fallout from this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe continues. Ticket sales were up 8 per cent on last year with the Fringe apparently recording its busiest day ever.
But tell that to the many performers who struggled to fill seats. Big marketing budgets may have kept major operators like Underbelly, Assembly and Gilded Balloon on track but in the smaller venues on the edge, it was a different story. On the fringe of the Fringe, performers are not happy.
“They have killed the golden goose,” said comedian Steven McLean. “I had my lowest attended Saturday show in a decade. I honestly don’t know if I’m going to come next year,” he posted on social media.
According to comedian Susie McCabe, a lot of artists left Edinburgh with a bad taste in their mouths. “The Fringe Society have not considered this Fringe resides in Scotland,” she said. That is the fundamental point.
Endured rather than enjoyed?
Is Edinburgh just a nice backdrop for the event, a fun place to play away from the heat of London in August. Or is it fundamentally woven into the DNA of the event? Is the Fringe something that is done to Edinburgh or with it?
As the Fringe has grown in recent years, so tolerance amongst local people seems to have waned. It can feel like something to be endured more than enjoyed.
The Fringe Society has tried to address that with cut-price ticket for locals but something much more fundamental needs to happen. The Fringe needs to embrace Edinburgh, not just use it as a stage.
A starting point would be recognising Edinburgh exists outwith August and our school holidays are different. It’s great that children from the south of England get to come here and see culture but wouldn’t it be nice if the kids who actually live here could do that as well? Scottish schools returned just as the Fringe started.
But it’s more than just that. The new school year also triggers the start of sports teams, clubs, hobbies, music lessons and lots of other factors that reduce the ability of parents and children to find time to engage with the Fringe. Those dates are not a secret. They are signposted way in advance.
Overly focussed on city centre
Parents and children also have to get to the Fringe. In years gone by, I’ve seen shows in Ocean Terminal shopping centre, on Portobello Beach and in Tynecastle football stadium. These are areas where people actually live with a ready audience on the doorstep.
Now, more and more, everything seems to be squeezed into a small area of the city centre, presided over by the University of Edinburgh. When it is facing cuts of £140 million, I’m sure the rental revenue is very welcome but it doesn’t help integrate the Fringe into the city.
All these problems have stemmed from an endless quest to grow. Every September a news release trumpets more shows and more ticket sales but if the Fringe is fraying at the edges how about an alternative approach? Make it smaller but better. Don’t obsess about growth but instead make the Fringe a more rewarding experience for performers, local people and the city as well.
If the Fringe wants to have a long-term future in Edinburgh, that’s the way to do it.
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