The price of attending Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe as an artist has gotten out of hand, and it is threatening to break performers, according to Fringe comedian Anna Morris.
Price tags for performers are variable from show to show, but some estimates see artists paying nearly £4,000 per week to attend the festival.
The average performance budget has to include funds for tech support, travel to and from the Capital, registration fees, PR, marketing, accommodation, and venue fees if applicable.
Morris claims the whole experience is pushing artists out of the festival.
“It’s a labour of love,” she said. “It’s brilliant to be a part of, but I think it is at a breaking point for a lot of smaller acts.”
Morris’ colleagues have confessed paying £8,500 for a two-bed flat during Festival Fringe while others are paying upwards of £5,000 for a one bed flat for three-and-a-half weeks. Student hall accommodation costs more than £1,600 throughout the festival.
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“I think Fringe is at a breaking point. It feels elitist these days and it makes me sad. It would be a shame for people to miss out on smaller acts, shows and experiences and the diversity of Fringe simply because artists can’t afford to attend anymore,” said Morris.
The costs don’t stop at accommodation. “To really go for it and give it everything you’ve got, it costs tens of thousands,” Morris said.
“There are posters to print, PR agencies to hire, accommodation, production and tech staff, plus travel. I previously paid £3,000 for a good PR agency so I could get the reviews and publicity that comes with it.”
An anonymous artist claimed to pay £2,000 for a venue with a 22-person capacity on top of £500 for marketing, £200 for travel, £200 for a designer, plus£300 for Festival Fringe registration fees. “The issue now is that even keeping costs as low as you can, you still pay a lot as an artist to be here,” said Morris.
Even after dishing out crazy amounts of money, Morris said artists almost always make a loss at Fringe. “In 2014, I sold 75 percent of my venue seats every day, which sounds great! But I still had an overall loss of £3,000,” she said.
Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival said it is difficult to predict ticket sales, but “it is likely that your expenses [as an artist] will be greater than your revenue.”
“Projected expenses will vary greatly from company to company, depending on factors such as the size and genre of your show; whether yours is an amateur or professional production; and how far you’ll have to travel to get to the city. Preparing a budget also involves dealing with some unknowns,” the Festival advised on its website.
Going forward, Morris has suggested that Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe could implement shorter festival dates and schedule less performances. “I think the Festival has maybe gotten too big and needs to be scaled back a bit so that the festival isn’t over saturated with audiences and entertainment,” she said.
“I really feel bad for those who can’t afford to perform this year. There are so many good shows and artists that get overlooked because they don’t have the PR and advertising. Fringe is supposed to be a fun space for trying new things. It’s exciting to find the little gems and it’s beautiful to discover a new artist and see something blossoming. I encourage people to go to every show they can and support smaller artists.
Morris, 42, is an award winning comedian and actress from England with a repertoire of one women comedy shows and a list of acting accolades. She is performing her Kid-Life Crisis (Work in Progress) stand-up show through the Festival Fringe.
The Fringe bills itself an open access arts festival with no centralised selection process while the event is not programmed or curated. The Fringe website states: “The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society does not produce or select any shows, does not invite anybody to perform and does not cover costs. We are here to provide you with the support, guidance and resources necessary to tell your story."
Edinburgh Festival Fringe was contacted for comment.
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