The Festivals in Numbers

It's big – but how big? We've number-crunched the festivals for you

feature (edinburgh) | Read in About 2 minutes
Published 05 Aug 2018
33330 large
121329 original

Total number of events across the Fringe, EIF and Book festivals: 59,263

The cheapest? The 697 free shows. A further 260 are pay-what-you-want.

The most expensive? You'd think it would be the top seats at the big budget EIF shows. But no! On the Fringe you could pay a cool £190 for the one-night Pick of the Fringe at the Sheraton. Hmmmm.

Wondering how the Fringe programme breaks down? 

Bring on the Toms! Guess which are the top 10 comics' names of the Fringe...

Venues

How Many? 329

Biggest: On Top of Arthur's Seat. The 'venue's' sole performer, Barry Fearns, reckons the capacity is a million (standing).

Smallest: Laughing Horse @ The World's Smallest Fringe Venue. It's literally a hen coop and seats three (people; you could probably squeeze in a fair few more hens).

The busiest? It's the Pleasance courtyard with 4,044 performances. The closest runner up is the Gilded Balloon Teviot, with a mere 2.332 events.

Biggest venue franchise? The Laughing Horse, with 23 outposts/stables/corrals, whatever.

Festivals

How many festivals actually are there in Summer? 8

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (13-22 Jul); Edinburgh Art Festival (26 Jul-26 Aug); The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (3-25 Aug); Edinburgh Festival Fringe (3-27 Aug); Edinburgh International Festival (3-27 Aug); Edinburgh International Book Festival (11-27 Aug); Fringe by the Sea (3-12 Aug).

Celebrate! Who's got a special year?

The Fringe: it's the 70th anniversary...depending on how you count it!

Guy Masterson: it's the one-man theatrical event's 25th Fringe. Same goes for comedians Vladimir McTavish and Jimeoin.

Craig Hill: he's notched up 20…Fringes. Same for Reginald D Hunter. Legends.

Spank!: the legendary late-night comedy and variety night turns 15 this year.

Daniel Sloss: his 10th solo show…but since he's only 27, that's pretty amazing. It's the big 10 for Carl Donnelly and Nick Doody too.

Made in Scotland: the annual showcase of Scottish culture is now into its first decade.