Leader: Fringe shows the way with its 'thank you'

WELL done to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for its initiative in offering free tickets to Edinburgh residents for a variety of shows next month.

It may seem that Edinburgh hardly needs a "thank you" in this manner from the Fringe: literally hundreds of diverse shows are brought to the centre of the city each year, drawing international tourists whose presence provides both a cosmopolitan excitement to the city as well as hard cash. But the alter ego of this is crowded buses, packed pavements, crowded restaurants, traffic congestion and a general imposition on mobility. A free ticket is a practical and fair-minded means of compensation.

Equally, it should help boost event attendance and encourage the public to try shows that they may not on their own have considered seeing. Doubtless some will disappoint. But there will be others that will delight and encourage greater appreciation of what it is that new artists and performers have to offer.

And who knows? If the scheme is a success, it could well be extended in the fullness of time to an introductory offer to ride the Edinburgh trams. For every ticket from Haymarket to St. Andrew Square, a "free" ride back again (not counting the 220 million cost over-run).