Melbourne fest shatters records

The Melbourne comedy festival is shattering box office records.

Ticket sales are so far up 40 per cent on last year, itself a record-breaking year, with no let-up in sight.

Sixteen days and 1,500 performances into the international event, $1.3million of tickets have been sold - equivalent to £483,000 - and daily queues are reported outside the box office.

The festival's success has sparked a debate in the city between those who want to launch more arts events to cash in, and those who say Melbourne's cultural calender is already overcrowded.

Comedy festival director Susan Provan told the city's The Age newspaper: "There's a real glut of stuff in March/April and I think Tourism Victoria has to be careful about going 'more events, more events, more events'.

However, Edinburgh has always thrived on having several international festivals running concurrently in August.

The Melbourne Festival runs until next Sunday.

Published: 13 Apr 2002