EDINBURGH'S festivals have dispelled fears the capital was set for an "annus horribilis" this year, reporting bumper crowds, box office records and sell-outs.
Despite months of box office woes, the Fringe is believed to be on track to match last year's ticket figures. It was announced last night that the system run by the "big four" venues on the Fringe, which ended up selling for five other ve
nues, has sold more than 750,000 tickets to date.
This figure does not include tickets sold through the Fringe's controversial box office, which has continued to sell tickets since the festival was officially launched on August 3, or at other venues.
By the end of last year's Fringe, a record 1,697,293 tickets had been sold. But venue bosses insisted having the back-up box office system had effectively "saved" the Fringe this year.
Major venues insist audiences have at least matched last year's record. Newcomers such as The World, on Shandwick Place, say they are ahead of expectations.
Shows such as La Clique at the Spiegeltent sold out more than a week ago, while the Edge Festival, the replacement for T on the Fringe, reported 23 out of 50 shows sold out.
Several venues say a large local audience may have rescued them, with fewer visitors believed to be in the city.
Museums and galleries say they have benefited from the bad weather, but it is thought to have badly affected many shows that relied on distributing flyers.
The International, book and art festivals are all expected to post record figures thanks to big names such as Tracey Emin, Vanity Fair, Matthew Bourne and the National Theatre of Scotland.
The EIF said last night that it had sold £2.5 million of tickets, and that sales were ahead of this time last year. Among its biggest successes have been Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray, now the best- selling dance show in the EIF's history, and 365, the flagship National Theatre of Scotland production, which sold out the 3,000-capacity Playhouse last night.
Underbelly director Charlie Wood said his sales were already up ahead of last year's total, adding: "We seem to have had every hurdle thrown at us this year: rain, Olympic golds, ticketing fiascos and credit crunches, but we've leapt over each of them."
A spokeswoman for the Traverse said: "This has definitely been our best festival. We've had an average of seven shows out of ten sold out every day."
The full article contains 418 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
