1.9m tickets sold

Ticket sales for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe are up five per cent on 2012.

By Monday afternoon, an estimated 1.94million tickets had been issued for paid shows – not counting the free events which do not go through the Fringe box office.

Kath M Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: ‘Our loyal and enthusiastic audience has once again been treated to the most amazing cultural experience and has been both challenged and entertained by a programme of spectacular work across all artforms from all around the world.’

Sales at some venues were even more dramatically up on last year, with both The Stand and sister venue the Assembly Rooms reporting record box office takings.

The Stand says it sold 59,803 tickets this year, up 30 per cent on the 45,987 sold in 2012. A spokesman said: 'Not only has The Stand seen a massive jump in ticket sales, but our acts have enjoyed unprecedented critical praise.'

Meanwhile box office was up more than 25 per cent at the Assembly Rooms, with 121,569 ticket sales compared to 98,293 last year.

Last year the festival faced competition from the Olympics in its first week... and next year's event, which kicks off on August 1, overlaps with the end of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

This year's Fringe boasted 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows in 273 venues.

Published: 26 Aug 2013