Box office reports 10 per cent slump

Ticket sales at the Edinburgh Fringe have slumped 10 per cent on last year, according to official festival figures.

As the 62nd festival draws to a close today, organisers say a total of 1.54million tickets were sold – markedly down from the 1.7million sold in 2007.

Sales were hit by a major failure of the Fringe’s box office system, leading to problems with thousands of tickets before the event kicked off. Other factors including a rainy August, economic fears and the Oympics have also been blamed for the downturn.

However, Fringe director Jon Morgan insisted he was happy with the figures.

He said: ‘This is the third year that the Fringe has sold in excess of 1.5 million tickets signifying another fantastic year for the world’s biggest arts festival.

‘At the start of the festival many were worried about the loss of venues, impact of the Olympics and the economy. In a difficult year, with record rainfall and problems with ticketing, Fringe-goers have come out in force and enjoyed the festival’

Fringe-goers were spread out over more shows than ever before, with a record 2,088 shows in the programme.

However, an increasing number of comedy shows are free, so their audiences do not show up on the official box office figures. The PBH Free Fringe had more than 120 shows, with the rival Free Festival boasting a further 158.

Published: 25 Aug 2008