International Festival
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe claims to be the largest arts festival in the world. The Fringe Festival tends to be more off beat than the main festival and is made up of all manner of professional and amateur performers. As a result it tends to appeal to a younger audience. The Fringe side of the Edinburgh Festival is now regarded by the stage industry as so cutting edge and innovative that it is viewed by many as a showcase for new talent.
Fringe 2006 featured 28,014 performances of 1,867 shows in 261 venues (Fringe 2005 featured 26,995 performances of 1,799 shows in 240 venues).
There were an estimated 16,990 performers on Edinburgh’s Fringe stages.
Theatre made up 32% of the programme, followed by Comedy (27%) then Music (21%). Musicals, Children’s Shows, Dance & Physical Theatre, Exhibitions and Events each provided around 4% of the programme.
Over a third (36%) of all shows were World premieres. 4% were UK premieres, 10% European premieres.
177 shows at Fringe 2006 were absolutely free.
It would take you 5 years, 11 months and 16 days to see every performance back-to-back.
Last year, the Fringe sold 1,531, 606 tickets - the fourth consecutive year that the Fringe sailed past the million-ticket barrier.
The Fringe has a 75% market share of all attendance at Edinburgh’s year-round festivals and annually generates around £75 million for the Edinburgh and Scottish economy.
The Fringe sells 97% more tickets than it did only 10 years ago (679,147 in 1995, 1,531,606 in 2006).
In 2006, there were 28,014 performances - 94% more performances than 10 years ago.
