I definitely agree that accommodation and venue costs are both spiralling out of control (Jason Manford must surely be referring to the latter, as he could easily afford accommodation).
But, I still think it's affordable if you have a show that 20+ people are actually going to come and see each day on average, and/or if you're prepared to work a full day (7 hours) while you're at the festival. 20+ people paying £5 each at a free venue on average brings you in £100+/day. The registration fee works out to about £16/show, and you might spend £8/show on flyers and posters, and these are probably the only major costs of putting it on. If you won't average an audience of 20+... you probably aren't ready to be doing the festival yet.
So if you can't make £50 profit a day from your show (which is the high end of what a room in shared or student accommodation costs this year if you're doing the full four weeks) and/or your other work at the festival (work as a flyerer for someone else, tech another show or two, take on some part-time bar/coffee shop work etc.), I don't know how you would expect to survive financially wherever you normally live.
It's not just about performers, how can genuine comedy fans afford to come up? I know many people who would love to visit the Fringe but can't afford the accommodation.
There are lots of ways to save money, like staying out of town (as far away as Glasgow) and then commuting in each day, booking your accommodation far in advance for the best prices, using student accommodation or hostels (seeing as you will be out and about all day most days).
Good piece. Quite a few politicians have used a relatively moderately sized S/C sector (1800 units or approx 0.7% of all city's residential housing) in Edinburgh as the whipping boy for decades of failure to build affordable homes. It was a lie then but a convenient one and has led to many locals losing their livelihoods in self catering whilst allowing an influx of offshore investors seeking to set up new 'aparthotels' exempt from the new rules in city brownfield that really ought to be prioritised for homes in a capital that only months ago claimed it was in a housing emergency. That's just a tiny bit of context. The skulduggery and incompetence runs so much deeper.
I definitely agree that accommodation and venue costs are both spiralling out of control (Jason Manford must surely be referring to the latter, as he could easily afford accommodation).
But, I still think it's affordable if you have a show that 20+ people are actually going to come and see each day on average, and/or if you're prepared to work a full day (7 hours) while you're at the festival. 20+ people paying £5 each at a free venue on average brings you in £100+/day. The registration fee works out to about £16/show, and you might spend £8/show on flyers and posters, and these are probably the only major costs of putting it on. If you won't average an audience of 20+... you probably aren't ready to be doing the festival yet.
So if you can't make £50 profit a day from your show (which is the high end of what a room in shared or student accommodation costs this year if you're doing the full four weeks) and/or your other work at the festival (work as a flyerer for someone else, tech another show or two, take on some part-time bar/coffee shop work etc.), I don't know how you would expect to survive financially wherever you normally live.
It's not just about performers, how can genuine comedy fans afford to come up? I know many people who would love to visit the Fringe but can't afford the accommodation.
There are lots of ways to save money, like staying out of town (as far away as Glasgow) and then commuting in each day, booking your accommodation far in advance for the best prices, using student accommodation or hostels (seeing as you will be out and about all day most days).
Good piece. Quite a few politicians have used a relatively moderately sized S/C sector (1800 units or approx 0.7% of all city's residential housing) in Edinburgh as the whipping boy for decades of failure to build affordable homes. It was a lie then but a convenient one and has led to many locals losing their livelihoods in self catering whilst allowing an influx of offshore investors seeking to set up new 'aparthotels' exempt from the new rules in city brownfield that really ought to be prioritised for homes in a capital that only months ago claimed it was in a housing emergency. That's just a tiny bit of context. The skulduggery and incompetence runs so much deeper.