Edinburgh's 11 festivals are planning to launch a single box office to simplify ticket purchasing and leverage customer data, aiming to boost sales and attract a major corporate sponsor like Mastercard to offset expected funding cuts.
Unified Box Office Plans
Festival directors believe a universal ticketing system will increase ticket sales and allow them to profit from the 'lake' of customer data they hold. The idea gained traction after Succession star Brian Cox called for it during an arts panel last year. The festivals, including the main international festival, will soon invite bids to merge ticketing operations and data of all 11 events, which sold nearly 4 million tickets in 2024.
Potential Year-Round App
They envision a year-round ticketing app. However, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the city's largest, has jumped ahead by announcing its own rival app. Tony Lankester, the Fringe's chief executive, told the Guardian they will pilot a beta version with 1,000 festival-goers this August, using an AI code-writing system called Claude.
Funding Challenges
The festivals face rising inflation, staffing costs, a new 5% visitors' levy on hotel beds, and expected subsidy cuts from the Scottish government. Last year, ministers pledged £200 million over three years for Scotland's arts sector, but they now need to save around £5 billion by 2030, with culture likely to face cuts.
Soaring accommodation costs in Edinburgh are also deterring visitors. The Post Office found that in June, Edinburgh had the highest hotel costs among 50 European cities, beating London, Venice, Paris, and Barcelona, and was the third most expensive city overall.
Data Exploitation
Lankester said the festivals sit on a vast 'data lake' that should be exploited to understand audience preferences. Fran Hegyi, executive director of the international festival, backed the unified box office, stating: 'Edinburgh's festivals are a half-a-billion-pound industry. A public partnership to grow that to a billion over the next decade is a tantalising prospect.'
Fringe's AI App
The Fringe's app will use an AI algorithm to recommend shows based on user preferences, similar to Spotify or Amazon. Lankester insisted the system will not favour big venues, saying: 'This is not about making the rich richer. Everyone needs a fair crack.' The Fringe will also release an automated planning guide that plots a full diary of events.
Currently, most festivals have separate ticketing portals and programmes; this year's Fringe programme is 416 pages, nearly 2 cm thick, and weighs 615 g.
