Fringe chief pledges to put explosion of free shows in the spotlight

Kath Mainland. Picture: Neil Hanna

FRINGE chief executive Kath Mainland will try to put a tally on growing audiences for free shows on the Fringe amid claims that several hundred thousand people could be flocking to unticketed comedy and theatre this year.

The Fringe sold more than 1.5 million  tickets last year, but just one major operator of free shows, the Laughing Horse Free Festival, claimed yesterday it was drawing between 30 and 60 people per show to about 180 performances  a day – potentially more than 100,000 people over the Festival.

"I think it would be really helpful for us to understand how popular that is, and also if they are seeing any trend," said Ms Mainland.  "You just turn up. It might be a significant sector of the audience, so we should try and get a handle on it."

Some sceptics question the real drawing power of low-budget free shows,  but reviewers have reported several "sell-outs". The Forest Fringe, a new free venue run from the Forest Café, also said yesterday it was often turning people away.

Alex Petty, of the Laughing Horse Free Festival, said: "It's difficult to get numbers, but generally we have been having full houses and at the central venues turning a lot of people away." 

A free ticketing system could help tally numbers in future, he said, but only if there were no booking charges.  Another major operator, the PBH Free Fringe also has more than 130 free shows this year, the Fringe office said yesterday.   Ms Mainland said she was also leading efforts to get an accurate figure for what it costs performers to come to Edinburgh, and for venues to  operate here.

Heavy costs and performers' losses have been a sore point for years, and there is particular anger in 2009 over soaring city licence fees.

"It is entirely our job to understand what those costs are, and challenges are, and do what we can to mitigate them.  But we have to understand what they  are, not just anecdotal evidence, we have to clearly understand why it's expensive and if there are trends there," she said.

Ms Mainland described her efforts to be a visible presence and restore trust at the Fringe after the damaging ticketing fiasco of last year.

She  bought her own tickets to some of the 15 shows she has seen  this year – as well as visiting nearly 20 venues, seven press launches, 16 functions, two open meetings and the annual festival service in St Giles Kirk. 

Last year,  at the height of the box office crisis, then-Fringe director Jon Morgan disclosed  he had been to just two shows out of 2,000 in the world's biggest arts festival, adding to the impression of a beleaguered festival chief whose resignation was announced shortly after.

"That's really important for us,  particularly this year, to be out and about, getting the lie of  the land,"  Ms Mainland said, adding she was spending more time talking to people in venues than simply seeing shows.

"I'm trying to speak to the people who are doing shows, or running venues, but also just to see what it's like as a punter.  I think that's the key to it, the key to this festival, the experience that the artist and the experience the audience has."

Ms Mainland is a  popular figure at the Edinburgh festivals, having first worked at the Fringe in 1991.  But for the last four years,  she worked at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

The Fringe was "hugely, hugely relieved" that the box office survived the opening  rush and has continued to function well.  Ticket sales are still  17 per cent up,  but what matters is  the final figure with two weekends still to go.   

A LIFE IN THE ARTS

KATH Mainland was born in Orkney in 1969 where she grew up and went to school.  After studying English at Glasgow University and accountancy at the University of Strathclyde, she began  her career in the arts in 1991  as an administrative assistant at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

She left the Fringe after five years to become a freelance festivals and events producer,  working on the likes of the  MTV European Music Awards.

She also ran the Assembly Rooms, one of the highest profile venues at the Fringe and was production   co-ordinator for Edinburgh's Hogmanay during  the millennium celebrations.

From January 2005 she worked for four years at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, becoming its  administrative director.