The 2015 Buxton Fringe contributed nearly £500,000 to the local economy, new figures show.
Audience and entrants’ surveys reveal that audiences spent a total of £401,000 on food, accommodation and ticket sales while performers spent £58,000 during their stay in the Derbyshire town.
Almost 10,000 tickets were sold for the biggest Buxton Fringe to date which had 174 entries. More than 5,000 tickets were sold at Underground venues which reported an increase of more than 20% on the previous year. Total audience figure including audiences for free events was nearly 20,000.
Over the past two years, the proportion of people watching more than five shows increased by 5%. A third of 2015 respondents were attending the Fringe for the first time.
Entrants came from as far as Japan while there were visitors from the USA and Portugal.
“Buxton Festival Fringe of 2015 felt good at the time,” said chair Keith Savage. “It was enjoyable and there were more good shows than ever. It’s good to have that feeling confirmed by evidence showing an increase in audiences, ticket sales and money flowing through the local economy. The Fringe is good news for everyone in Buxton.”
Buxton Fringe 2016 opens for entries on Tuesday 1 December. Full information on how to enter can be found at the Buxton Fringe web site.