As the Edinburgh festivals drew to a close on the English bank holiday weekend, each released its figures for ticket sales and visitor numbers after three weeks of intense activity. Four years on from lockdown, when all live events were cancelled or moved online, the numbers show year-on-year increases approaching pre-pandemic levels, despite the increased cost of living, the very high cost of Edinburgh accommodation and greatly reduced funding for the arts, the latter compounded by an announcement this month by the Scottish Government.
However, it is clear from these post-festival announcements that the people in charge are far from complacent and are concerned for the future if certain things do not change.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2–26 August 2024)
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, has used their end-of-festival press release as an opportunity to make a strong statement about “the fragility of the performing arts community,” stating that “an outward veneer of success cannot mask the struggle for artists to emerge let alone thrive in the UK right now.”
Without pointing fingers specifically, it is clear she is referencing recent policy decisions from both central and the Scottish governments when she refers to “the cumulative effect of the relentless rise in the cost of everything, and an unhelpful policy environment facing the arts sector,” more specifically blaming, “the availability of affordable accommodation, blunt policy changes which have consequences for major events, to continuous public sector cuts.”
She predicts that, “if the UK continues on an upward trajectory of cuts to arts education, and Scotland continues to decimate investment in the sector, breaking promises of support, then we are on a direct course to job losses, exclusion and boring art that is only the privilege of those who can afford to be part of it, as performers or as audiences,” concluding, “as we celebrate the hundreds of thousands of people who have been moved, delighted, awed, shocked and entertained by the stories artists present across Fringe stages, it feels that now, more than ever, we must not take artists for granted; we would do so at our peril.”
Despite rising costs for artists and audiences of staying in Edinburgh, the statistics do show modest increases in the numbers of both productions and ticket sales. More than 2.6 million tickets were issued this year for 3,746 shows compared to just over 2.4 million for 3,553 shows in 2023, with downloads of the Fringe app up from nearly 80,000 to more than 124,000, and nearly 900 accredited representatives of the media reviewed productions, up from 840 last year. However, the number of countries represented on stage was down from 67 to 60, and the number of country showcases down from 17 to 13, which could perhaps reflect the increased difficulty and expense of bringing productions to the UK and in particular to Edinburgh for international artists and companies.
Assembly, one of the leading venue operators, reported that this year’s festival was one of the most well-attended in its 43-year history, with an anticipated 500,000 tickets sold for 4,539 performances of 257 shows performed by more than a thousand artists from 32 countries. However, Assembly’s Artistic Director, William Burdett-Coutts, echoed McCarthy’s caution: “2024 has been a marked improvement on last year and puts the festival back on the road to recovery. That said, the Fringe is a fragile event, and we all need to work together to build resilience and ensure that the future works for all participants.”
Assembly’s Managing Director, Dani Rae, added, “we too are shaken by the Scottish funding announcements in recent days, the impact of which affects our entire sector. We call on the Scottish and UK Governments to remember, there is no art without artists, there are no Edinburgh Festivals without artists.”
Edinburgh International Festival (2–25 August 2024)
2024 marked the second Edinburgh International Festival under the leadership of Nicola Benedetti, and it also saw a small increase in visitor numbers, from 120,000 in 2023 to 125,000 this year. 50% of the tickets sold were £30 or less and there were more than 5,000 targeted discounted tickets sold at £10. More than half of all those who booked tickets were new to the festival.
Also, 50% of the performers were from or based in Scotland and the five Scottish national performing arts companies—National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and Scottish Chamber Orchestra—all featured.
Benedetti said, “our festival has been an outstanding success this year. The theme, ‘Rituals That Unite Us’, resonated in profound ways with our visiting artists and home community. Although we bring stories from around the world, they change when they interact with the unique spirit of Edinburgh, artist upon artist expressing their awe and desire to return.”
With a small nod to the issues mentioned by McCarthy, she added, “against a tumultuous backdrop of funding crisis, two aspects of our identity were reinforced and strengthened. We are deeply rooted in Scotland, and will continue to present the best of Scottish talent alongside our international counterparts. Most importantly, we are making an indelible impact on access to culture for our local community. To present the world’s greatest art to the broadest possible audience is what we are here to do.”
Edinburgh International Book Festival (10–25 August 2024)
This was the first Edinburgh International Book Festival since Jenny Niven took over from Nick Barley as Director and the first at its new venue, Edinburgh Futures Institute, but it was also a day shorter than in the past. The new location isn’t the isolated oasis that the festival had at Charlotte Square for many years or even at the Art College over the road more recently, as only a low fence separates the gardens from a very busy walkway, but it does have some conventional indoor event spaces to add to the fewer tented venues, plus some of the more popular events were held at McEwan Hall on Teviot Place.
The two bookshops—one adult and one children’s—plus a signing tent of old have been condensed to a single tent run by Waterstones, not by the festival itself as it used to be, and refreshments are also now contracted out to outdoor food and drink stalls similar to those found all around Edinburgh during the festivals, and at similar prices. The ice cream seller, who has had a stall in the Book Festival grounds for many years, did not seem to be present this year.
Almost 600 events were attended by more than 100,000 visitors, with more than 100 at 90% or greater capacity, half of which sold out, and events streamed online were viewed by audiences from 55 countries; many of these are still available to watch for free or a donation. The Book Festival is the only one of the three to have kept the online access to events in its programme that was a major feature of them all during and immediately after the pandemic, though there aren’t as many as previous years.
Niven said, “Edinburgh Futures Institute as a Book Festival venue has been terrific and we’re already looking at the ways we can build on what we’ve created for next year. We’re looking forward to beginning conversations in the autumn with everyone who will be part of our story in our next glorious edition.”
Next year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from 1–25 August 2025. The dates for the other two festivals for next year haven’t yet been made public.