Performing at these festivals can be ruinously expensive – but can you at least attend one for free? Our writer ditches his wallet to find out, and meets the comedians doing their best on an ever-tightening budget
F
ringe festivals have always been cash guzzlers, not only for punters but for the performers, whose show costs far outstrip their earnings – and that’s not including the money needed to eat, drink and find somewhere to crash. This is just how fringe festivals work. The performers have to pay to book their own venues, and rely on ticket sales to claw back their investment, all in a highly competitive market, with tickets for hundreds of shows a night going on sale.
Spiralling costs certainly make performing at fringe festivals seem elitist. But are they really only vanity projects for middle-class comedians bankrolled by their savings, or worse still, the bank of Mum and Dad? Or is living on a diet of Pot Noodles and top-and-tailing with a total stranger all part of the charm?
In solidarity with these increasingly cash-strapped performers, I had initially wanted to go to Edinburgh to see if I could attend the world’s largest fringe festival without spending a single penny. Unfortunately, things I don’t understand, such as “production times”, “print deadlines” and, erm, “the passage of time” mean it’s not possible for me to attend this year’s Edinburgh and have the piece published before it starts.
