But a slimmed-down Fringe MAY be possible

Edinburgh’s Free Fringe and Free Festival says they too will be cancelling all their shows for this year’s Fringe.

The central Fringe Society today announced that it would not be coordinating the world’s largest arts festival, with the ‘Big Four’ venues – Pleasance, Assembly, Underbelly and Gilded Balloon – also putting their plans on hold.

Their move does not rule out a slimmed-down Fringe going ahead, since the festival’s informal structure and open-access ethos allows anyone to stage a show.

However Free Festival founder Alex Petty said he did not intend to do that – as the rival Free Fringe also said they taking the ‘hard decision’ to cancel all currently timetabled shows.

Petty told Chortle: ‘We're going to be cancelling all shows in August with most shows moving through to 2021.’

‘I believe that is absolutely the best course of action to take given the current situation with coronavirus and the way it looks like things are developing in the country and world.’

His organisation claims to be the biggest comedy producer in Edinburgh, Last year, the Free Festival staged more than 9,000 performances of 410 shows, primarily in bars and nightclubs, a set-up that requires far less extra infrastructure than the major venues.

But Petty added:  ‘I think trying to put shows on as soon as August in any great numbers would be wrong, being potentially harmful to the health of performers, staff and audiences.  

‘If social distancing rules are relaxed later in the year, be it in August or later we will then look at putting some free festival style shows on in smaller numbers if we feel that is what we should be doing, but that will depend entirely depend on where the county is with the virus and of we think it's safe to do so. 

‘We’ve certainly got performers raring to go at short notice and our venue supportive of this, too.

‘In the meantime, we're in the process of taking some of our shows online, and hope to be launching the online Free Festival around Easter time, with performers collecting donations online just like they would do in Edinburgh.’

Meanwhile, the PBH Free Fringe suggested it might still stage a smaller Edinburgh operation if performers wanted it, and the situation had changed enough.

It sent an email to all its performers and producers saying: ‘Following today’s statement from The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. we feel we have no other option than to cancel shows that are currently timetabled. You will understand how hard this decision has been considering all the unpaid hours that have gone into organising 2020 already, but public health has to take priority.

‘However, we do want to support our venues that have been so good to us over the last twenty five years. IF medical advice permits and IF the entertainments ban is lifted, we would do our best to support some sort of smaller fringe that is safe and sensible.

‘Our advantage is that we are adaptable, and even if the ban were to be lifted at the last minute, we could probably find acts to fill the spaces. If medical advice says that it is safe, we will do our best to help our acts perform.

‘I’ll be frank, the chances are slim. Those are very big IFs.

‘We will keep everyone’s details on file and should some medical miracle occur in the next few months we will consider a clearer course of action at the time. It could be that we reopen allocations and anyone who already had a slot can let us know if they still want it then. It could be that some virtual online version can be organised failing everything else. We don't know.

‘And that's the point: we don't know what's going to happen in the next few months any more than anyone else, so all we have are IFs for now. In the meantime, I am sad to say that The Free Fringe is on hold along with the rest of the world.

‘Thank you all for sticking with us and wishing you the best of luck getting through this.’

Published: 1 Apr 2020