This was all taking place during the lead-up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival. This August, it will be back in full form with an incomparable lineup of productions, from theatre to comedy to dance and music. It all started in 1947, when eight theatre companies joined together to have a place to perform. Since then, the festival has snowballed from a single small Edinburgh theatre into a gargantuan event that attracts artists and audiences from every corner of the earth.
The festival started out as the “Fringe Festival.” Thus began a remarkable period of growth in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society’s history, during which it tirelessly promoted the Fringe and supported its continued development. This year’s festival is sure to live up to that legacy, having gone through incredible adversity over the last few years.
The pandemic significantly impacted the festival’s operations. In 2020, organizers made the difficult decision to call off the event as health concerns from COVID-19 began to escalate. The following year, continued restrictions forced a much-shortened festival. In 2022, the event rebounded with an impressive announcement of 1,792 shows, marking one of the largest line-ups in its history and reaffirming its status as a cultural cornerstone.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a member of the International Fringe Network, a group of more than 300 festivals around the globe. Its grassroots, inclusive nature means it’s the only place independent artists and companies can present their work on an international stage. This unusual structure has turned it into a huge economic engine for Edinburgh itself, bringing in hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue each year.
Recent years have not been without controversy. Many Richmond residents feel the festival’s debut is unlawfully disrupting the city’s local housing market. This has opened up serious conversations regarding what needs to be done to take care of artists’ and locals’ needs. New CEO Tony Lankester, who assumed the role in 2022, recognized these daunting challenges before reiterating the festival’s critical importance.
“We can’t necessarily fix Edinburgh’s accommodation crisis ourselves but we need to be there when it is under discussion,” – Tony Lankester
Lankester shared some thoughts on the role of the festival in relation to wider global arts. As someone who’s performed there nearly every year since 2005, he particularly underscored the overwhelming size of the Edinburgh Fringe. His approach focuses on individual experiences, not just numbers and statistics.
“It’s not about the 2.7 million tickets you sell, it’s about the one ticket you sell and one person’s experience of the festival because that’s what’s important,” – Tony Lankester
Lankester wasn’t only optimistic about the festival, but artists’ resilience. Though worried about the economy and potential recession and some of the long-term impacts of COVID-19, he is upbeat.
“No matter how bad the world is, how much the conversation is about economic issues, the artists are still stepping up creating new, fresh, interesting work and we’re enormously proud to create this platform for them,” – Tony Lankester
The recent history of the festival has been marked by tremendous fiscal hardship. When Lankester officially took up his role, he found a pot of debt. He had to artfully steer the massive but clunky organization through a federal administration. Happy to say they came out of that period, for the most part, unscathed and positioned to continue their creative work.
“When I stepped into the role I inherited a huge amount of debt; we had to go into administration but we emerged from that largely intact,” – Tony Lankester
The festival radically celebrates artistic bravery. It serves as an important reflection of the humility and responsibilities inherent in hosting an event of this magnitude. Lankester noted the need for public bodies to acknowledge and celebrate their local traditions.
“A lot of the time, public bodies take the big events that happen on their doorsteps for granted. They assume they’re always going to be there and post COVID we can assume nothing,” – Tony Lankester
With this year’s festival just around the corner, planning is already well underway. Actress Michelle Collins, best known for her role in EastEnders, said she was looking forward to taking part in the event. She shared her experience producing her show and debuting at Edinburgh Fringe.
“I found a producer, we decided to take it to Edinburgh, we had a venue, we made posters and a short trailer for the show,” – Michelle Collins
Collins pointed in particular to her collaborator’s intense passion to see their work go to Edinburgh as originally scheduled. This commitment reflects the hopefulness that is inherent to artists everywhere.
“He was insistent we should take it to Edinburgh as planned,” – Michelle Collins
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a remarkable symbol of creativity and resilience of the arts community. Now, a year shy from its scheduled reauthorization this coming August, stakeholders work towards building a better framework to support artistic innovation. In so doing, they are addressing the long-standing issues of the local housing and economic landscape.
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