Edinburgh Festival: Fringe Director's Shock Departure

by Jarrett Martineau | August 28, 2008 at 08:28 am

1767 views | 9 Recommendations | 15 comments

Jon Morgan, the recently appointed director of the Edinburgh Festival, which is the world's largest fringe fest, has made a sudden departure from his position.

The crisis-beset Fringe festival in Edinburgh suffered another significant blow after its director resigned suddenly today, only 15 months after taking up his post.

Jon Morgan stunned his colleagues and senior figures in the Edinburgh arts world by stepping down from his post three days after the Fringe revealed the first drop in sales for eight years, and following damaging rows over the role of the event's comedy venues.

Fringe venue directors said Morgan could be followed by further resignations from Fringe board members, who they said should take overall responsibility for the crises which hit this year's event - the worst summer in its 61-year history.

His resignation comes days after news was released that ticket sales for the festival had fallen a dramatic 10% in 2008.

The event was hit by a series of problems with ticketing after its new centralised box office collapsed on the first day of ticket sales in June, leading to a six week delay in the distribution of tickets, and further serious backlogs.

The launch of this year's Fringe programme was also overshadowed by a row over claims, since denied by those involved, that the city's "big four" comedy venues were plotting a breakaway event after they published an independent joint programme.

On Monday, Morgan disclosed that this year's ticket sales had fallen by 10% from the record 1.7m tickets sold last year - a drop he blamed on the economic downturn, the popularity of this year's Olympics, the bad weather and lastly the ticketing problems.

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minibalmer

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:44 on August 29th, 2008

Jarrett Martineau, I like this story. It's good stuff.

jmachoo

at 15:04 on August 29th, 2008

This Indian dance demonstration was in the Meadows on Fringe Sunday. I was one of the many photographers who enjoyed the day despite the showers. Airdrie and Coatbridge Photography Club always make a point of visiting Edinburgh on Fringe Sunday.
The original digital image was manipulated by PC. John McGill.

jmachoo has contributed a photo to this story.

gary.moffat

at 23:33 on September 3rd, 2008

Felicity Redman of "The Two Sopranos" At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Performing a outstanding solo vocalisation of "Puccini" classic "O Mio Babbino Caro" Bringing culture and classic opera to the streets of Edinburgh.

gary.moffat has contributed a photo to this story.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garymoffat

mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:38 on August 29th, 2008

Jarrett Martineau, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Let's hope this isn't the beginning-of-the-end for the Festival.

Castaway in Wales

at 17:04 on August 29th, 2008

This was my first year at the Festival and had a fabulous time. There was a real buzz about and the city was heaving with people. I'm surprised attendance was so low, given the crowds, but the poor weather couldn't have helped. It better not be the end of the Fringe. Just getting to love it now!

mfkirke

at 23:48 on August 29th, 2008

The ticketing situation was chaotic at the beginning of our stay but it settled down. The Fringe director can't be blamed for the weather (which was horrible).

revgoomba

at 04:08 on August 30th, 2008

Photo Credit: Andrew Nicolson

revgoomba has contributed a photo to this story.

anniesangels55

at 07:09 on August 30th, 2008

Thoroughly enjoyed the street entertainment that took place in Princes Street Gardens and on The Royal Mile. The atmosphere and diversity of both entertainers and public is facinating and enthralling. The Edinburgh Fringe is such an essential part of The Edinburgh Festival and I sincerely hope that there is a wonderful future for the Fringe despite the unfortunate poor sales of this year.

Photo Credit Anne Gallacher

anniesangels55 has contributed a photo to this story.

rp1970

at 07:59 on August 30th, 2008

My own experience of the ticketing problems was similar to many - tickets did not arrive in the post, and I had to queue on the High Street with other annoyed festival-goers.
That aside the atmosphere of the festival was as good as ever, and this was hopefully just a blip in it's otherwise excellent reputation.

rp1970 has contributed a photo to this story.

Stainedeye

at 08:00 on August 30th, 2008

Stainedeye has contributed a photo to this story.

Murray Thomson

at 09:33 on August 30th, 2008

This spunky lady was performing hoop tricks just outside Edinburgh's National Art Gallery, enlisting audience participation for her somewhat dangerous solo act. Such acts could be found even outside the Royal Mile, where most performers played, suggesting a far bigger and more prosperous Fringe festival than some stories like this seem to be suggesting.

Murray Thomson has contributed a photo to this story.

CraigSk

at 11:06 on August 30th, 2008

Great show this year despite the weather !

CraigSk has contributed a photo to this story.

robotsong

at 06:51 on August 31st, 2008

Real Daniel O'Donnell Show Presents: The Clock Hour

Photo credit: Miriam Miller
L-R: Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Jeremy Limb, Paul Litchfield

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buczma

at 13:51 on August 31st, 2008

On the streets of Royal Mile

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hazelx26

at 10:39 on September 1st, 2008

After having been at the Fringe and seeing the street performers i did start to feel sorry for them being out trying to get people to go see their shows due to low sales caused by ticketing problems. I myself booked tickets for a couple of shows and had to travel to the box office on 4 different occasions before i recieved my tickets. Despite all the problems though the performers on the Royal Mile didn't at all see disheartened by any of the problems their shows might have been having and i had a great day just walking around taking in the atmosphere and taking some great pictures.

hazel.robertson26 has contributed a photo to this story.