Edmonton Fringe festival wraps up with strong ticket numbers, but falls short of $300,000 fundraising goal

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Edmonton International Fringe Festival organizers are touting a successful year, but warn they may have to scale back future events if fundraising falls short.

As of noon Sunday, theatregoers had purchased 127,000 tickets to Fringe shows, up from 114,000 the year before.

That translates to $1.3 million in direct-to-artist ticket sales, the second-highest artist payout behind 2019’s $1.46 million take.

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Fringe executive director Megan Dart said 2024 felt like a return to form after the ongoing pandemic hangover — but warned the festival continues to face financial headwinds.

“Those ticket sales don’t cover the cost of operating a festival our size,” she said. “Cancelling the festival back in 2020 was a $3 million loss in revenue for our organization, and those previously predictable supports that were in place prior to the pandemic simply haven’t kept pace with the cost of producing our event.”

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The festival set out in March to raise $300,000 for its “Sustain Fringe” campaign. As of Sunday, $228,000 had been raised. About 500 people have signed up to be monthly donors.

“Infrastructure costs have gone up by more than 50 per cent,” Dart said. “Our insurance has gone up. Our utilities have gone up. We know this is true for everyone.”

“This is the story of every arts organization across the country right now. We’ve lost 25 per cent of our arts institutions, our arts organizations across the country since the pandemic. This industry is in a state of repair and regrowth and we need support.”

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Dart said the festival will continue to fundraise through its post-Fringe Holdovers series.

“If we don’t hit that goal by the end of Holdovers, it may put us in a position where we have to start thinking about what scaling back our event looks like so that we ensure the sustainability,” she said.

The Edmonton International Fringe Festival bills itself as North America’s largest fringe theatre festival and one of the largest in the world alongside Edinburgh and Adelaide.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

x.com/jonnywakefield

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