Latest news with #FringeSociety
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
No new sponsor to replace Johnnie Walker as Fringe bosses draw up plans to demand tourist levy from council
The Fringe Society admitted it has not found a replacement sponsor for Johnnie Walker Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... No new sponsor has been found for the Fringe to replace Johnnie Walker, Fringe chiefs have admitted, as they draw up plans to demand tourist levy funds from Edinburgh Council. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said it could administer a funding pot made up predominantly from the city's visitor levy to help festival operators, under proposals being drawn up by the organisation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The society said it was compiling a comprehensive document which it will present to the City of Edinburgh Council by the end of the year, laying out the issues, problems and funding gaps identified by venue operators and other Fringe stakeholders. Among the recommendations will be the creation of a fund potentially administered by the Fringe, akin to the Scottish Government's £1.58m Platforms for Creative Excellence (PLACE) Resilience Fund, set up in 2022 to support the return of the festival in the wake of the pandemic. It would include at least £1.1m from the visitor levy, as well as additional money from sources including public funding. Tony Lankester is the new chief executive of the Fringe Society. | Fringe Society This comes as the Fringe admitted it had not yet found a replacement corporate sponsor for whisky brand Johnnie Walker, which ended its partnership last month, but insisted it would plug the gap with a string of smaller corporate tie ups yet to be announced. Chief executive Tony Lankester and deputy chief executive Lindsey Jackson spoke to The Scotsman as the Fringe launched its official programme for this August. This year's programme features work from 3,352 shows across 265 venues from 58 countries , slightly up on last year's figure of 3,317 shows. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair said the funding pot could be made up of 'at least' £1.1 million from the Visitor Levy tax, which is due to be introduced next year, as well as public funding and money from other sources. Ms Jackson said a 'collective Fringe proposition' document is being drawn up following consultation with festival stakeholders, ahead of the council forming its Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) forum, with an expectation that it could begin to create funds toward the end of the year. The Society is running a series of workshops with venues to understand 'where the pinch points are' and what challenges they are facing. 'From a Fringe Society's point of view, investment from the visitor levy needs to go to the festival, not to the Fringe Society: it's about what's happening out there, not what's happening in here,' said Ms Jackson. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Also [we're looking at] where the council needs to take responsibility and use its investment, or reduce costs or improve services, parks, access to clean drinking water, benches, toilets. Those things will all both reduce cost and reduce pressure on the whole environment generally, but will also make it a better experience in August. 'Our intention is, by the end of the year, with the venues, to have a collective fringe proposition and business case that is inarguable in its return on investment, its value for money. For a long time, the council and the city has said, 'We understand the Fringe's collective problems, but there's no money to support, we love to help, but we can't.' 'Now, this is our opportunity, so we will be right there on day one, knocking on the door with a well-evidenced and documented business case that says: 'This is why this is a long term and sustained return on investment. We all know that the Fringe contributes hundreds of millions of pounds to this city and many businesses, including accommodation providers. It feels like this is the right point at which the city finally has the money to put into supporting and underwriting the infrastructure. We're not expecting there to be miracles overnight, but we are expecting an early endorsement of the Fringe's need of value for money in that space.' Mr Lankester has pointed to a figure of £1.1m, which would be generated from the levy by Fringe performers alone, which he sees as a 'minimum' which should be handed back by the council. He said he had met 'informally' with venues to discuss synergies and ways the Fringe Society could support helping them to cut costs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pot could potentially give venues the chance to borrow funds which would allow them to pay out for infrastructure and other outgoings further in advance, ultimately making cost savings. Mr Lankester believes the business landscape has changed dramatically since the pandemic. 'The world we're in now is vastly different from a lot of us, five years ago or 10 years ago or two years ago,' he said. 'No one can operate now post-Covid in the same way they were operating pre-Covid. It's completely upended every single business model of every single industry on earth. Add to that, the broader economic environment, the introduction of artificial intelligence. All of that, we're operating in different place now. 'And I think it's incumbent upon every business operating in the landscape to use it as an opportunity to re interrogate all their business and just ask some fundamental questions: In this context, should we be scaling up? Should we be scaling down? Should we be doing more? Should we be doing less? Should we be offering different deals to artists? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It's not just a simplistic argument about what does the Fringe Society charge for X, or what is the council chance for Y? Those are part of it, but they're broader questions as well. We want to create the space where areas of collaboration can be surfaced. I think it's also worth partnering with the venues - and this is something the Fringe Society can do more of - to help them interrogate their own business models.' He admits there 'probably would have been' conversations with Johnnie Walker owner Diageo with an aim to renewing the sponsorship contract. The Society is targeting financial services, retail and beverage companies for potential deals. However, he believes the year-on-year income from sponsorships will not be 'vastly different' to last year, due to a string of smaller deals. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said: 'There are ongoing conversations, because medium term strategy for me is just to broaden that sponsorship pool so that we go from having five or six sponsors, to 10 or 15 sponsors with dovetail timing, so that they don't all start on the same day in the same year, so that we can even out some of the revenues. 'These things are elongated: there's not going to be a like-for-like replacement for the Johnnie Walker investment for 2025, but there will be other sponsors in the mix that maybe weren't there before.'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Fringe boss vows to rebuild trust after 'sabre-rattling' row
He said the relationship with venues appeared to have "lost its way" and suggested "entrenched" positions were to blame for behind-the-scenes tensions. Read more: Support for the Fringe Society is said to have dwindled away from many of the key players in the festival in recent years as it has stepped up lobbying for more public funding. Mr Lankeser suggested there had been 'sabre-rattling' against the Fringe Society, which has overseen the festival since the 1950s. Tony Lankester is chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. (Image: Gordon Terris) Mr Lankester denied claims that the charity had been competing for public funding with venues staging shows at the 78-year-old event, which will return with 3352 shows in its line-up in August. Mr Lankester was speaking after venue operators warned that the financial model behind the event was on the brink of 'collapse' due to the impact of soaring costs in recent years. He urged the venues to ask 'existential questions' about their scale and running costs, and suggested they should not be using the same business model as they were operating under five or 10 years ago. The Fringe Society has faced growing hostility from the Fringe Alliance, an independent collective of venue operators and promoters involved in the festival every year. When the Fringe Alliance was launched in 2023 it pledged to 'work with and support' the Fringe Society, as well as 'raise financial support for the Fringe community and ensure that appropriate support reaches all parts of the Fringe ecology". However a leaked dossier from the Fringe Alliance revealed concerns it has raised privately with politicians and funding bodies about the Fringe Society's growth, budget, influence and funding priorities. The Fringe Society has secured new funding deals with the UK Government to help open a new "Fringe Central" headquarters building and support a 'Keep It Fringe Fund' for UK-based artists. The Scottish Government confirmed £300,000 of new support for the Fringe Society shortly before previous chief executive Shona McCarthy left her role in the spring. The Fringe Alliance has accused the Fringe Society of 'competing with artists and venues for funding rather than facilitating their success' and suggested that its operating model had 'distorted the festival's financial ecosystem' and directed resources aware from the Fringe's 'core creative contributors". Mr Lankester, who was appointed in January, said he started meeting venue representatives in his first week in the job in April and had since met operators of every size. He told The Herald: 'I think the relationship between the Fringe Society and the venues has lost its way a bit. 'I don't want to speculate about why that has happened. I think everyone was talking across each other, and there was no real common understanding or meeting of minds. 'I think we just need to get those conversations back into a sensible space. 'I don't think there is anyone in the Fringe eco-system, including the Fringe Alliance, who wakes up in the morning thinking: 'How can we make things worse today?' 'The Fringe Society is completely focused on making sure that we can deliver the best possible experience for artists. If they are looked after, audiences will have a good time and the venues will do well. We exist to serve the artists. 'I think the venues have perhaps felt left out of conversations. They do view the Fringe Society as being in competition with them to some degree. When I interrogated that with them I couldn't see any clear examples. 'The Fringe Society has been acting in good faith. If you look at the example of the Keep It Fringe Fund, we have become a conduit to pass that money directly to artists. 'The funding that we secured for the Fringe Central building project wasn't up for grabs by other entities. It's not like anyone else lost out. 'I think it all comes down to a common understanding of what our strategy needs to be and what the role of the Fringe Society is.' Mr Lankester admitted there mixed views among venue operators about the future role of the Fringe Society. He said: 'Everyone has their own unique issues. Opinions vary quite a lot. 'Some people say: 'We only want you to run a box office and print a programme and it should be hands-off everything else.' 'Other people say: 'We really need you to raise funds for things and build a way of filtering money back into the ecosystem. 'There has been a certain tone and a sabre-rattling kind of environment about some of the things I have read. "Yet when I sit around the table with people there is a genuine desire to be constructive and move things forward. Whether that is lip service or not I don't know, but I'm taking it at face value. 'For me, the underlying thing is the relationship between the Fringe Society and all the components of the wider ecosystem, improving communication, which we may not have always got it right in the past, and rebuilding trust where it has broken down. 'We have a business relationship with every single venue. Many millions of pounds move around the ecosystem. If there was genuinely zero trust no-one would be trusting us to sell their tickets. 'There might be some suspicions, a slight circling of each other and a wariness. I think it's just about bringing alignment now. 'Everyone in the ecosystem has their own agenda. That's how it should be. They want to see the Fringe Society supporting their agenda. The reality is there are some things we can support them on, but there are others that are not our business. We rely on them to run their businesses as best they can.' Edinburgh's popularity as a tourism destination, new city council restrictions on the short-term letting of properties and the impact of concerts at Murrayfield Stadium clashing with the Fringe for the first time have all been blamed for the crisis. It is said to have forced many artists and performers to limit the runs of their shows, and for venue operators to take an increasing financial risk on their programmes. The number of shows in the printed programme has increased slightly from 3317 in 2024 to 3351 this year. However the number of performances has dropped from 51,446 to 49,521 in the space of 12 months. Mr Lankester said: 'We are not privy to the individuals deals that venues are doing with artists. 'But the landscape has changed. Businesses need to evolve and respond to that. You see that in every industry and every sector around the world. 'If venues are not constantly looking at their business model, looking at the pressures of a changing landscape and still trying to do the same things they did five or 10 years ago the results are going to be pretty sore for them. 'There are existential questions everyone should be asking about size, scale and costs. That kind of business model stuff should be as real for the venues as it is for the Fringe Society or anyone else.' Lyndsey Jackon, deputy chief executive of the Fringe Society, said: 'It has been worrying some people for a while that artists are coming to the Fringe for shorter periods of time. 'But artists have always done a variety of runs. We did do a trend analysis last year and it wasn't particularly stark in any shift. 'We've always said that one of the benefits of doing a full run for three weeks is that you just don't get that level of professional development and immersion in a festival experience anywhere else. 'A shorter run is still a really valuable thing to do, but we always encourage people to do the full three-week run if they can. 'The question we always ask artists is what their objective is. If it's about professional development, building audiences, testing your work and seeing as much as possible then three weeks is probably necessary. 'Each artist will have their own set of objectives, budget and capacity. Artists have obviously got physical, time and financial restraints. Many of them aren't able to take the whole week off 'It doesn't worry me that people are doing different runs as that model as always existed. It would be more worrying if we were seeing three one-week festivals, but I don't think that's true. An enormous number of shows in this programme are doing the full run of the Fringe.' This year's Fringe programme will feature work from 58 countries around the world, including 923 Scottish productions and 1392 drawn from the rest of the UK. Mr Lankester said: 'I think the size of this year's programme demonstrates the resilience of artists. 'I don't think we can pretend that everything is rosy in the garden. We know there are issues, pressures and things we need to respond to. 'But the programme is evidence of what we know about artists, which is how much artists value the Fringe and see it as an important thing to be part of."
Edinburgh Reporter
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025
Later today the full Fringe 2025 programme will be published in print and online. The online version offers searchable database of the 3,352 shows which will be performed at 26 venues. Themes range across some of the most topical to Shakespeare and everything in between. Tony Lankester, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: 'Programme launch is such an exciting moment for everyone involved making the Fringe happen. Thank you to all the Fringe-makers – the artists, venues, workers, producers, technicians, promoters, support staff and audiences that bring their un-matched, exceptional energy to Edinburgh in August. 'This year's Fringe programme is filled with every kind of performance, so whether you're excited for theatre or circus, or the best of comedy, music, dance, children's shows, magic or cabaret; get ready to dare to discover this August. Jump right in, book your favourites, shows that intrigue you and take a chance on something new.' The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the charity that underpins the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe. It was established in 1958 by a group of artists to provide central services for the festival and ensure that it stays true to its founding purpose of inclusion and welcome to all. We exist to support and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe; to provide information and assistance to audiences; and to celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world. Based on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Society has a small team of staff who work year-round to assist all the artists and audiences who make the festival one of the best loved performing arts events on the planet. In 2022, as part of the Fringe's 75th anniversary, the Fringe Society launched a new collaborative vision and set of values, and made a series of commitments to become more inclusive, fair and sustainable. The vision is 'to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat'. The Fringe Society was awarded funding of £7 million by the UK Government and has entered a long lease of the premises at the former South Bridge Resource Centre which will become the Fringe Hub after considerable work has been carried out. Like this: Like Related
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Edinburgh fringe event organisers urged to capitalise on Oasis and AC/DC gigs
Organisers of Edinburgh fringe events have been urged to be 'pretty smart' and capitalise on the decision by Oasis and AC/DC to play gigs in the city midway through the festival. There was surprise and irritation when it emerged the bands would be staging four concerts at Murrayfield stadium in mid-August when the world's largest arts festival is in full flow. Tony Lankester, who recently took over as the Fringe Society's chief executive, said fringe companies should see the concerts as an opportunity rather than fret about downsides. About 75,000 fans are expected for each concert – three by Oasis and one by AC/DC, putting the city's trains, buses and trams under even greater strain, with visitors competing for already scarce and expensive hotel beds. Lankester, who previously ran South Africa's national arts festival, said fringe venues should tempt Edinburgh residents who may 'want to hide' when the concerts take place with discounted tickets or free wine. Venues could also tempt Oasis and AC/DC concertgoers with 'morning after' performances in the city with free bacon rolls and coffee, he suggested. 'What we don't want to happen is for the local audience to hide that night,' he said. 'There's some pretty smart marketing type things that I think venues could be looking at. The fact is that it's not going away. Why not be completely opportunistic about it?' This year's fringe, which runs from 1 to 25 Augustand takes place alongside the international festival and book festival, is expected to involve about 50,000 performances at 265 venues. Lankester said the strength of the programme, which includes themes such as rebellious women, the apocalypse, queer joy and rave culture, showed artists were as hungry as ever to perform despite global crises and tensions. 'What excites me most about the programme, is the signal that it sends is of an industry in healthy shape,' he said. For the first time, five shows from US performers are being underwritten by donors to the Keep it Fringe funding strand launched in 2023 by the Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the fringe's honorary president, to support new, marginalised or innovative acts. Lankester said he had numerous conversations that 'reaffirmed for me what I knew coming into this job, that there's a lot of love and joy around the fringe. It's something that people absolutely want to preserve, protect, engage with, be part of. It's still on an incredible number of people's bucket lists.' He said he was talking to major brands about the potential to become headline sponsors of the fringe for the first time, to bring in extra revenue for performers and venues at a time of intense pressure on public funding. He said those discussions were at an early stage, but indicated it could involve a bank or beer brand. No sponsor would be allowed to rebrand the fringe, but their investments would help the festival to improve its finances. Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion In her last newspaper interview, Shona McCarthy, Lankester's immediate predecessor, accused political leaders of consistently neglecting the fringe and failing to adequately invest in services, transport and infrastructure such as mobile phone services. Lankester said he 'stood by' everything McCarthy had said. Her 'enormously valuable' intervention had fuelled action and more responsiveness in the council, the Scottish government and other agencies, he said, adding: 'The message landed.' Lankester is lobbying Edinburgh council to devote at least £1.1m of a new visitor levy on hotel beds to supporting the festival, and is in talks about strengthening the city's ailing mobile and wifi services, as well as improved rail services for non-residents. The visitor levy will come into force in July 2026, but hotels will begin collecting it on all bookings made from October this year. 'What we don't want to happen is for that money to sort of disappear into a black hole and for no benefit to be felt by the people [who] drive a big chunk of that revenue,' he said.
The Herald Scotland
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
The Fringe accommodation pegged at under £300 a week
The Fringe Society has revealed more than 100 rooms are currently available at an official 'Festival Village' at Queen Margaret University's campus on Musselburgh and at Edinburgh University accommodation near the Meadows in the city centre. The arts charity is also recommending an 'Artist Village' glamping site which is being created in a walled garden at the historic Drum Estate in south Edinburgh, where bell tents for up to four people will cost £100 per night. Read more: It is also urging performers and companies to consider staying in outlying neighbourhoods rather than the city centre to help keep their costs down and let them experience the 'real' Edinburgh off the city's main tourist trail. The Fringe Society has admitted concern over the affordability and availability of accommodation is one of the biggest barriers to taking part in the festival, which has an 'open access' ethos. Queen Margaret University has pledged to peg the price of accommodation for Edinburgh Festival Fringe performers. (Image: Queen Margaret University) New challenges this year include the first ever concerts at Murrayfield Stadium which will clash with the Fringe this summer and the introduction of the city's proposed new tourist tax, which apply to bookings made after this October for people staying in the city during the 2026 Fringe. Demand for accommodation has seen hotel prices soar above £1000 a room for some leading hotels in August on nights when Oasis and AC/DC are appearing at Murrayfield. Edinburgh University accommodation in the Sciennes area is being pegged back for Fringe performers at £287 per week.(Image: Edinburgh University) A spokesperson for the Fringe Society said: 'It's incredibly important for Fringe participants to be able to access affordable accommodation this August and beyond, to allow artists to focus on their work instead of an additional financial pressure. 'As part of our support services for artists, we work with the TheatreDigsBooker website and a range of universities and to ensure provision of and signpost to affordable accommodation to artists performing at the Fringe. 'We have an online accommodation portal which signposts availability across these organisations. 'Our artist services team works throughout the year to help with any specific queries, in addition to working to develop new partnerships to secure more affordable accommodation opportunities.' Official advice on the Fringe Society's accommodation portal states: 'Edinburgh is a small city and travel times and distances may appear greater than they actually are, so don't be afraid to venture outside the city centre. 'This comes with many benefits: not only is it usually much cheaper, but you'll also benefit from quieter neighbourhoods, parks and green spaces to reflect and recover, plus more space and larger properties for larger groups. 'You'll get to experience the 'real' Edinburgh that most tourists miss, and you'll generally still be within a 15–20 minute journey from the centre, whether you're travelling on foot, by bike or on the bus.' The Fringe Society has joined forces with Queen Margaret University in Musselburgh, around six miles from the Royal mile, to run an official 'Festival Village' for artists and performers who stay there, who get access to rehearsal spaces, networking events, outdoor yoga classes, an onsite café and gym facilities. Single rooms at QMU are available for Fringe performers at £294 per person per week, while six-bedroom apartments are available at £2034%. The cheapest Edinburgh University accommodation, for four and five bedroom flats in and around the Sciennes area in the south side, have been pegged at £287 per week per person. The university has other accommodation available at its Pollock Halls site, near Holyrood Park, for £371 a week. Lyndsay Wilkie, director of commercial operations, accommodation, catering and events at Edinburgh University, said: 'Edinburgh's Festivals are renowned all over the world, bringing thousands of artists and visitors to our city each year. 'We are fully committed to supporting the festivals and in particular recognise the need for artists and events professionals to have access to affordable accommodation during the summer months. 'We offer performers and festival workers an excellent choice of accommodation across the city, providing a base close to all the major festival venues and hubs. 'We are also pleased to offer a range of price points this year, with availability remaining across options for this summer. 'We are looking forward to welcoming performers to our city once again and are pleased to be able to continue to offer our support by making sure the city's festivals can be accessible to all.' Lynn Barclay, commercial manager at Queen Margaret University, said: 'We are really excited about welcoming Fringe performers to the QMU. 'As specialists in creative arts and cultural management, we are delighted to support the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with much needed modern, good quality, affordable accommodation.' Scott Gibson, managing director of the Sports Pathway Group, which will be running the Fringe glamping site at the Drum Estate, said: 'We've been working with the Fringe Society to assist with affordable accommodation for artists. 'Our exclusive 'Artist Village' will be a private area within our site which will have luxury bell tents available from August 3-25. The site will include toilets and hot showers, a marquee with charging points, pamper room, Wi-Fi, and arcade games, and a firepit and communal bar area open from 6pm.'
