Outgoing Fringe Society Chief Executive Shona McCarthy has reiterated her message that the Fringe, and the cultural sector at large, need much more support to navigate through their currently “perilous” financial situation.
The Fringe Society has designed this year's Fringe Review of the Year to be a launchpad for further discussion and engagement from potential funders, partners, sponsors and those who benefit from the economics of the Fringe.
“The challenges we’re facing can only be overcome with collaborative action,” says McCarthy in her intro in the Society’s Annual Review.
The sentiment echoes her open letter written at the close of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, in which she talked about “the relentless rise in the cost of everything, and an unhelpful policy environment facing the arts sector" meaning that "the pipeline of creative potential is under threat”.
In her latest comments, McCarthy says: “it takes a cast of thousands to pull this thing off, and collective effort is needed to ensure its future. The Fringe is far too valuable – not just to livelihoods and economically, but on a much more profound, human level – for us to let it decline.”
The Fringe Society supports the current #InvestInCulture campaign from Scotland’s cultural sector, which seeks to increase the Scottish Government’s budget contributions of national spend on culture from 0.5% to match or exceed the European average investment in culture of 1.5%.
Statistically speaking
The colourful Fringe Review booklet is packed with numbers reminding us of what McCarthy calls the “Olympic scale” of the Fringe, from the impressive 2.6 million tickets issued across the Fringe on behalf of 3,746 registered shows in nearly 300 Fringe venues, to the pungent stat that The Royal Mile public toilets were used 11,000 times.
The Report highlights the Fringe’s initiatives such as the Keep It Fringe funding programme for artists, and the services that the Society provides performers and the broader community.
It’s noteworthy that registration fees for artists have “remained frozen for the 17th year in a row”.
The charity's budget summary states total income was £5,532,678, less than total expenditure of £5,759,268.
Future moves
With regard to the Fringe Society’s move into a year-round home, the future Fringe Central, the charity says “we’re in the final stages of our planning, with an ambition to begin works in late 2024 to open in winter 2025/26.”
In many ways, the report gives the impression that the Fringe is in good health, vibrant and expanding after the shock of the pandemic.
On one page it states: “60 countries were represented on stage at this year’s Fringe, including 13 country showcases. There were 1,074 international shows overall – nearly a third of the programme.”
On another: “900 professionals from 27 countries accredited with our Media Office.”
For its ongoing success, McCarthy praises “the resilience and creativity of the Fringe community”.
But adds: “There is no doubt that the defining moment of this year was the collective rallying cry as the festival ended: that there is no art without artists. By extension, there is no Fringe without art – and so my primary thanks go to everyone who shared their work and bared their souls at this year’s festival, in the most fragile and challenging of funding environments.”
Rounding off her comments, she says: “And my own closing rallying cry: we deliver an event of Olympic scale, and much wider impact, every single year, but we are doing it without core investment or a supportive policy environment. Come on Scotland, you can make this right – it’s your Edinburgh Fringe and it is exceptional.”
McCarthy remains in the role of Chief Executive until Spring 2025.
The Edinburgh Fringe festival takes place 1-25 August 2025.