Edinburgh Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is often called the Edinburgh Fringe and sometimes just the Fringe. It is one of the arts festivals collectively termed the Edinburgh Festival. It takes place annually in the city of Edinburgh during August. It was originally set up to complement the Edinburgh International Festival but now dwarfs it. The Edinburgh Fringe is the world?s largest arts festival.

History

The Fringe started when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the first year of the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. They aimed to take advantage of the large theatre crowds and showcase their own, more alternative, theatre. It initially got most of its support from Edinburgh University students who set up drop-in centres and a central booking service.

Related Topics:
Edinburgh International Festival - Edinburgh University

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In 1958 the Fringe became more organised with the Fringe Festival Society producing up the first guide to all Fringe shows. A constitution was drawn up in which the policy of not vetting or censoring shows was set out. In 1959, 19 companies attended the Fringe. In following years there were problems as competition increased and the Fringe became too big for students and volunteers to deal with. In 1969 the Fringe Society became a limited company and in 1971 it employed its first administrator.

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Between 1976 and 1981 the amount of companies performing rose from 182 to 494. In 1988 the Society moved to its current headquarters on the Royal Mile. Since then the society has increased the amount of technology used by introducing computerised ticketing and in 2000 the Fringe became the first arts organisation in the world to sell tickets online in real time. In 2005, over 1,335,000 were sold for Fringe performances and the Fringe Society now plans years in advance.

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Much of the history of the Fringe has become obscure in popular terms but there is general agreement that the artistic credentials of the Fringe were established by the creators of the Traverse Theatre, John Calder, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. Their work in presenting cutting edge drama to an international audience in the impressive setting of the city's Royal Mile set a standard to which other companies aspired. In it's new home adjacent to the grand Usher Hall, the Traverse continues to go from strength to strength and has a worldwide reputation for presenting contemporary drama in a daring and imaginative context.

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