Edinburgh Fringe Festival faces rising costs (pic: Terry Murden / DB Media Services)
Concerns about costs have become as much a feature of the Edinburgh Festival as the shows themselves, writes TERRY MURDEN
When Anthony Alderson addressed an Edinburgh Fringe launch party in the rear bar of the Tiger Lilly restaurant, the head of the Pleasance made a specific appeal to the city’s business community. Help is needed if the world’s biggest gathering of the arts is to remain sustainable and not become, he warned, a victim of rising costs.
“We are calling on the establishment of Edinburgh. The local business community,” he said. “You have a stake in the future of this festival. Every business in this city has a stake in it. So let’s not take it for granted.”
In a welcome to the Fringe that was appropriately flavoured with humour, Alderson delivered a dig at the city council, regularly targeted as a key cause of rising costs.
“I want to say a big thank you to the city council,” he said wryly, to a giggling audience. “They make it more expensive, sorry cheaper, and harder, I mean easier, to put on a show.”
William Burdett-Coutts, founder and director of theatre and comedy promotion company Assembly, was among those mixing with other promoters, media and sundry other guests. He jokes about his reputation for being downbeat about the financial circumstances surrounding the festival. Will this year’s annual address be any different? “No,” he says bluntly with a mischievous smile.
Parking is another cause for concern. He says the council is charging £84,000 to remove cars from George Square and £50,000 for the same demand in George Street.
“We will have to make it work, but we are facing £200,000 of additional costs and we really are at breaking point. I will have to lay off staff.”
He says the council is hoping revenue from the new visitor levy will help offset some of these charges. “Hopefully, it will help,” says Burdett-Coutts who has been associated with Edinburgh’s arts festival since 1981.
The cost of accommodation and the changes to short-term lets is the big one. Ten years ago a room could be booked for an average of £24, now it’s £85 and it could mean the difference in making the trip to Edinburgh worth it. New letting rules have reduced availability which is also blamed for pushing up costs.
The council insists it provides generous grant funding and has adjusted its accommodation rules following consultation with the Fringe and residents. Beyond even its reach is the soaring cost of materials and equipment, up by 50% since the pandemic.
Katy Koren, Gilded Balloon’s artistic director, says the affect of higher costs is that more performers are coming for short runs rather than stay for the whole season.
“It has become a lot harder to persuade artists to come to the Fringe,” she told The Herald. “We have a really good programme for our 40th anniversary, but a lot of that work is being paid for by us.
“We are having to take a risk on shows more than ever rather than shows being a collective risk. It’s a very precarious business model.”
Her views are shared by Sam Gough, chief executive of Summerhall Arts, who said the whole ecosystem of the Fringe is “delicately balanced” with escalating costs putting pressure on ticket prices and margins.
Promoter Richard Jordan has warned Edinburgh against complacency as other cities stage their own arts festivals.
“Edinburgh cannot simply sit on its laurels,” he says, “or it will risk being left behind.”
As Alderson said at the Fringe launch party: “Big star concerts at Murrayfield are great fun, but they miss the point.”
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