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Since the closing of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it’s no secret that this year is still not stacking up like it was in 2019. Since the doors to the festival reopened in 2022, with a brief soft reopening in 2021, it has become clear just how lacking the large festival is for both artists and industry professionals alike.
In 2023, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival drew to a close on Monday 28th of August with having brought together artists and professionals in the arts industry from nearly 170 countries, with 2,445,609 tickets issued across the entire festival. The four sites of Underbelly accounted for just over 150 shows of the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Assembly barely topped that with producing around 200 shows across six sites.
Even with amazing shows beyond dozens of sites, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival had its fifth highest attendance but ticket sales were still down by 19% compared to its highest ever in 2019. Both Production Managers and Technical Managers from nearly every company at the Fringe this year believe that it will likely take at least another 3 years to make up for the loss of ticket sales and attendance numbers, even if more shows are produced. These passing by statements prove that those who work in the industry full time believe that quality of shows bring more consistent audiences rather than the quantity offered.
Especially considering the rising costs of the Fringe, artists and technicians are both left wondering if the festival remains worth it to their career. Artists come from nearly 170 countries, this means finding accommodations for them and their team, marketing, venue rentals, food costs, travelling, either travel costs for equipment or buying/renting more when you arrive, etc. Technicians who are semi-local also have to find accommodation for themselves, food costs, travelling, and buying replacement tools when theirs eventually go “missing”. Dozens of artists this year publicly stated that if being at the Fringe didn’t have big marketing opportunities, they would likely not even come as putting on a show is simply becoming another way to go into debt rather than be somewhat profitable or at least somewhat paid off with new connections to take things further.
While everyone considers these factors, and some will always choose to bite the bullet of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, more people from within the industry are realising that Fringe may merely be too out of their way for one reason or another, whether it be costs that are associated with the festival, the overall disorganisation, or the festival still trying to bounce back like everything and everyone else. This is not the time for the large festival to be wavering. The people running it need to realise changes need to be made in order to maintain what it took over 70 years to build.
Janine has always been a part of music and performing. The first show that inspired her to go into theatre was the Velveteen Rabbit which she saw as a child, and Drew works to keep that magic alive in her work. When Drew was accepted into an internship program for audio engineering at a recording studio, she jumped at the opportunity. That was at the start of 2020, and so much has happened since then, both in her career and in the world. Since then, Drew has taken several opportunities to work at recording studios, concerts, festivals, and even large theatres while spending some time on tour. Drew's favorite by far though, has been the chance to work on Broadways and West End shows, as this was a dream come true. Drew is honoured to get to share these experiences from being inside the entertainment industry.
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