The Fringe tax: performers charged £20 for street acts

STREET performers are to be forced to pay for the first time before being allowed on to Edinburgh's Royal Mile during the Fringe, The Scotsman has learned.

Jugglers, sword-swallowers, living statues and even balloon artists will have to fork out £20 a week to perform in the hugely popular High Street arena.

Only acts approved in advance by Fringe officials will be issued with a special "artist's pass" and coveted performance slots will be issued in advance of the festival getting underway.

Performers with risky acts, involving the likes of flaming torches, replica weapons or even "large props", will also be barred if they are not fully insured.

Fringe officials say the rules are aimed at making the High Street arena, which is closed off to all daytime traffic for the festival, much safer for performers and audiences, and help tackle crowd congestion problems.

But they have been condemned by street performers, who say the introduction of a charging system is "over the top" and risks damaging the spirit of the Fringe.

In a major shake-up, performance slots will no longer be issued on the day to acts that turn up at the Fringe office. Instead, artists will know before they arrive in the city when and where they will be appearing.

Performers who have previously visited the Fringe have just been alerted about the new arrangements and warned that only accredited artists will be allowed to perform. Police and security guards will be working with the Fringe's own street team to ensure the new system is adhered to inside the "arena" area, licensed by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Buskers, portrait painters and market traders will also have to pay for special Fringe passes if they want to work in the High Street.

In a bulletin announcing the changes, the Fringe states: "The High Street and The Fringe as a whole is a well-known platform for emerging artists to be seen and discovered and the beauty of performing at the Fringe is that anything goes.

"Performers come from far and wide for a chance to shock and captivate the crowds and have their turn amongst the masses, but due to the overwhelming demand, we have had to introduce a registration and artist pass process this year.

"This will allow us to pre-programme all performances and therefore control numbers and locations of acts in advance. We're not attempting to creatively influence the performances in the High Street but are simply attempting to make the process more manageable.

"The acts will still be evenly split across all locations. The allocation of passes will allow performing at the Fringe to be a better environment for all."

Steve Thomson, editor of Juggling World website, said: "There's nothing wrong with insisting on performers being insured, but charging for passes just to be able to perform seems a bit excessive. To young performers who are not quite established, it could put them off coming to Edinburgh."

Councillor Steve Cardownie, the capital's festivals and events champion, said: "This is the first I've heard about it. I've not been involved in any discussions with the Fringe about these plans."

'At other festivals around the world street performers are treated well'

ONE regular street performer in the High Street said the new regulations seemed excessive.

Steve Archibald, aka The Spike Man, told The Scotsman: "In many other cities around the world which have festivals, street performers are treated very well and are properly paid and have their accommodation sorted for them.

"Edinburgh pretty much leaves them to fend for themselves, despite the popularity of the High Street.

"It's fair enough trying to ensure that things are a bit regulated in the High Street, as the big circle acts which go on for around an hour do need a bit of space to perform properly.

"The Fringe needed to shake up the previous system, where performers were asked to turn up first thing to try to get a slot. It was a bit of a lottery.

"However, I don't think performers will be at all happy with this new system, and particularly the idea of having to pay for a pass. It goes against the whole spirit of the Fringe and could well deter performers from coming here from another country.

"I'm based in Perthshire, so it will be quite handy for me to know which days I've got a slot, but I'm not sure it'll suit someone from overseas who is only here for a month."

Insiders at the Fringe say the arena has become a victim of its own success, because of the thousands of spectators who descend on it and the demand from performers to appear there.

One source said: "We're trying to strike the right balance between giving audiences and performers enough room and retaining the spirit of the High Street, which is renowned all over the world.

"The Fringe has to pay for the costs involved in running the High Street arena, and asking performers for £20 a week, or £50 for the whole festival, does not strike us as excessive, bearing in mind performers are asking audiences for money at the end of their acts."

The decision to charge performers is the latest attempt by the council to organise the High Street.

It is ten years since the High Street was first closed off to traffic to make way for the Festival.

The city council agreed to the move in an attempt to accommodate the hundreds of street performers who flock to the Royal Mile and create a more festive atmosphere.

But chaotic scenes in the first year led to a storm of complaints about crowd congestion, noisy performers and rubbish in the High Street.

The following year the Fringe announced that all performers would have to pre-register in order to secure special slots in Hunter Square, Parliament Square and the High Street.

However, the shake-up sparked fury from street performers, who staged a number of protests.