Record- breaking festivals end with spectacular fireworks show
● Record years are reported by International, Fringe and Book festivals as Tattoo announces 19th sell- out year in a row
As fireworks marked the end of Edinburgh’s 2017 festival last night, organisers revealed the events have attracted a record 3.6 million visitors, with the Edinburgh International Festival, Fringe and the city’s literary celebration all announcing record box office takings
Edinburgh’ s festivals have attracted more than 3.6 million people over the last month, according to figures revealed as their 70th birthday celebrations drew to a close.
The Edinburgh Inter national Festival, Fringe and the city’ s literary celebration all announced record box office takings as the Tattoo reported its 19th successive sell- out.
The EIF and the Fringe were both launched in 1947, in the aftermath of the Second World War, the latter when eight theatre companies refused entry to the official festival decided to stage their own event.
The Fringe reported a rise in ticket sales of almost 9 per cent – as i t emerged i ts audience had grown by nearly a million in just 10 years. Organisers say 2,696,884 tickets were isusued – compared to 1,697,293 a decade ago.
There has b een a i ncrease in its audience of 224,741 in 12 months and a rise of more than half a million in the last three years alone. Some 3,398 productions were staged across 300 venues, a rise of almost two thirds in ten years.
The number of international countries registered rose to a record 58 this year – up 32 per cent in the space of 12 months – despite fears over the impact of t he event f rom t he Brexit referendum vote last summer.
Fringe chief executive Sho - na Mccar thy said: “This has been a very special year as we celebrated 70 years of defying the norm, 70 years of the greatest melting pot of arts and culture anywhere on the planet, and 70 years of Edinburgh as an internationally- renowned festival city.
“The Fringe continues to play an essential role in the worldwide arts community, enabling artists to showcase their work, reach new audiences and make new connections.
“Inthe current climate of global uncertainty, we were delighted to see an increase in the number of countries represented. We’ llcontinue to support global engagement and international participation over the coming years .”
The Edinburgh Inter nation al Festival announced a record £4.3 million in box office income – up 2 per cent on 2016. The figure is almost £ 1.5m higher than five years ago. Around 450,000 attended EIF events, including twoday curtain- raiser Bloom and the fireworks finale.
Festival director Fergus Linehan said :“We’ve gone from having a box office of between £2.5 and £3 mon an annual basis to £ 4.3m. We’re a notch upon last year, but we only have so many venues. We pretty much have the same stock of seats every year. We’re a bit like the Tattoo.”
The Edinburgh International Book Festivalsaid more than 130,000 tickets were sold for the first time ever after the festival expanded on to George Street with two new venues.
Ticket sales were up 4 p er cent up on last year and more than 250,000 flocked into the festival’s traditional home in Charlotte Square Gardens for the first time – around 20,000 more than in 2016. More than 63,000 books were sold – up five per cent in a year.
Festival director Nick Barley said: “It’s wonderful to see that our extension into George Street has attracted new audiences, while allowing us to retain all the spirit and vigour of the festival’s beating heart in Charlotte Square Gardens.”