EdFringe Discount Registration Deadline Looms Large… or Does It?
As March settles in, making no signs of forgetting February’s weather, it seems crazy to think that it might be almost time to embark on another year of Edinburgh Fringe adventure. The next couple of weeks will prove busy ones in the offices of Fringe venues and producers across the UK and around the world as the reduced price Fringe registration deadline rolls around on Friday 19 March.
If you are bringing a show to the Fringe this year and don’t have all of your ducks in a row just yet don’t worry too much, Fringe registration only opened on 1 March and the final deadline for inclusion in the Fringe programme isn’t until 21 April 2010. So what is the cost of missing the early deadline a week on Friday?
The price of being included in the Fringe programme and registering to sell through the Fringe Society / Red 61 Box Office jumps from £289.05 to £385.40 (both prices including VAT) leaving a grand total of £96.35 difference. Against a typical Fringe show budget of anywhere between £10k to £12k (I know there is no such thing as a typical Fringe show so take these numbers with a pinch of salt) this might not be the end of the world. However that £100 might be far better spent getting a couple of your cast and crew on the train up to Edinburgh or adding a few thousand more fliers to your print run. Most venues and producers looking to bring multiple shows will certainly be working at the moment, trying to get as many shows into the system as possible before 19 March 2010. It is worth looking into whether your can register your show at this stage, even if you haven’t got a confirmed venue offer yet, as you may be able to change the venue on your form at a later date and still take advantage of the discount.
Is not getting into the Fringe programme by meeting the 21 April deadline the end of the world? It used to be that my answer to that questions would be a very simple, “yes”. Its worth mentioning, although its not widely reported, that venues and the Fringe Society will take show entries after 21 April. For a discounted fee late shows can be added to the central Fringe Box Office, added to the event listings on the Fringe’s website and your venue will still be able to sell your tickets through their own box offices. Shows, albeit rarely, have been known to rock up to Edinburgh late in the day, make a splash with a nice PR angle and sell lots of tickets in spite of not having a programme entry. This might not be considered the most organised / best thought out way of executing an Edinburgh Fringe run.
So we move onto the question of whether bringing a late show to Edinburgh or, possibly, deliberately not putting a programme application in by 21 April will spell automatic death for your show? A fantastic example of a company successful without any entries in the Fringe programme would be the Forest Fringe, an incredibly diverse collection of immersive, promenade and generally wacky (free) performances which has operated in a venue opposite the Bedlam Theatre on Bristo Place for the past two summers. The Forest Fringe describe themselves as a “miniature festival within a festival” and have had both critical success for their Edinburgh work, winning a Peter Brook Empty Space Special Mention, a Total Theatre Award and enough positive news print to wallpaper their respective bedrooms as well as a post Edinburgh schedule to make most Fringe producers green with envy. The Forest Fringe will be producing a microfestival at the BAC (the Edinburgh season operates their support) on 2 and 3 April as well as producing projects at the Arches in Glasgow 16 and 17 April.
So the Forest Fringe show us that there is a workable model for producing successful Edinburgh work without the obligatory Fringe programme entry but is it a path you should choose to take? On reflection I would probably have to say, “no”.
In the Fringe programme you might feel that you are incredibly small fish in an incredibly big pond. This is in many ways true – you only have 40 words to present yourself and your show and you will be one entry amongst over two thousand others – but paid for advertising aside, every show is given exactly the same tools to promote themselves, those 40 words. Choose them wisely. Remember that a URL to your show or company website only counts towards one word in your 40, giving potential audience members opportunities to learn far more about you and your show than 40 words will ever allow. Its also worth remembering that people who are serious about coming to the Fringe and seeing your show are serious about the Fringe programme. You will often see Fringe-goers arriving at box offices with an array of post-it notes sticking out the pages of their Fringe programme, lining up show after show to see around the city. Reviewers can also be expected to use the programme as their Fringe Bible, I assume there is something slightly religious or ritualistic about the way they choose what to go and see, there never seems to be any deeper logic to it.
A final note would probably be to say that there are few other places where you will get as much exposure to an audience, ready and willing to buy a Fringe ticket, as is offered by the Fringe programme. In your greater production, or even marketing budget, £300 might not be the biggest single line budget amount, but I think it might be one of the best investments you make for your show.
Photo credit: Gstei on Flickr
