Fringe Festival History

1947. The year the first Edinburgh International Festival, created as a post-war initiative to re-unite Europe through culture. Eight theatre groups turn up uninvited to the first Edinburgh International Festival. Determined to perform despite not being part of the official program, they check in at venues away from the big, public stages. The Fringe is born. There is no central box office, no Fringe program, no publicity - the interlopers just appear, used small and unconventional theatre spaces and took all their own financial risks, flourishing or failing according to public demand.

1948. A journalist unknowingly coins the name that is to later describe the largest and most famous arts Festival on the planet: "Round the Fringe of the Festival drama there seems to be more private enterprise than before. I'm afraid some of us are not going to be often at home during the evenings."

1952. The Scotsman newspaper declares: "Record number of visitors to the Festival." The then Lord Provost claimed that the city held more visitors than Helsinki, which was hosting the Olympic Games. Special trains are scheduled to ferry audiences to and from the capital.

1954. Fringe groups hold their first meeting. "We are cutting each other's throats," says one producer. Joint box office and publicity are given high priority as a cure for this calamity.

1958. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is organized. A constitution is drawn up, a brochure with all Fringe shows published, tickets sold centrally, a club set up and information given. Artistic vetting is to have no place in the society's aims - a decision which still remains central to the development of the Fringe today.

1962. The Fringe Bulletin to performers warns: "competition is intense - we expect the number of Fringe groups performing to increase to 34, against last year's 28." More than 600 performing companies now participate in the Edinburgh Fringe each year.

1982. The first North American Fringe Festival is established in Edmonton. Unlike the Edinburgh model in which artists are responsible for finding their own venues and technicians, the Edmonton Fringe implements a system in which for a relatively low set fee, the Festival provides artists with a venue, a set number of performances, two technicians, and front-of-house and ticketing services.

Thanks to the San Francisco Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe for this wonderful history lesson!