Latest news with #TonyLankester
Edinburgh Reporter
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Keep it Fringe US fund – five artists to receive funding
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has announced the recipients of the 2025 Keep it Fringe US fund. This is the first year of Keep it Fringe US, inspired by the UK Keep it Fringe, which has provided grants to Fringe artists in the UK since 2023. Five US-based artists will receive a bursary of $2,500, in addition to support from the Fringe Society's Artist Services team to help audience and career development, including marketing, screen development and industry networking opportunities. The Fringe Society explained that the partners and supporters who made this pilot possible include JetBlue, Playbill and individual donors Scott and Holly Plank, Heather and Paul Innella and others who wish to remain anonymous. THE SUCCESSFUL RECIPIENTS OF KEEP IT FRINGE US: A Drag is Born – ZOO Edu Diaz, a New York-based Spanish artist, presents A Drag is Born: a 'non-verbal blend of clown, drag and queer joy' that 'reminds us it's never too late to embrace your true self'. In A Drag is Born, 'an ordinary man finds himself magically transformed into the Queen of the Carnival. With advanced age, abundant body hair and limited talents, he is an unlikely candidate.' Driving in Circles – Gilded Balloon Set to an 'astonishingly cool electric art-pop score', Driving in Circles, from New Haven-based EPs Theater, 'traces the aftermath of intimate violence – mapping our hero's darkly funny, deeply felt, defiantly hopeful journey through the bodymind-altering landscapes of trauma towards something like happiness.' I See You Watching – Gilded Balloon Blind Faith Productions, based in Philadelphia, presents I See You Watching, a 'haunting, rigorous and sometimes brutal theatre show' exposing 'the invisible cages confining women in today's world' and questioning 'whether true freedom lies in victory, surrender or something else'. Leo Still Dies in the End – Gilded Balloon 'Presenting a one-woman parody re-enactment of Titanic in which Alice plays all the parts and the scenes are selected at random', New York-based Alice Fishbein presents a show 'about how childhood obsessions shape who we are as adults, nostalgia for aging '90s media, and claims of boats too big to sink'. Simple Town – Pleasance Hailing from New York, Berk's Nest presents Simple Town, a sketch show combining 'smart ensemble riffing with dumb slapstick in one hard-hitting hour'. Tony Lankester Tony Lankester, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: 'We look forward to welcoming the Keep it Fringe US artists to Edinburgh this August, to experience the unmatched atmosphere and opportunities the Fringe offers. '2025 is a pilot year for Keep it Fringe US. We are keen to continue offering this opportunity to US artists. If you would like to find out more about supporting the initiative, please get in touch with the Fringe Society team.' The Fringe Society hopes to continue Keep it Fringe US going after this year, and is actively seeking new funding and donations to ensure the long-term sustainability of this important initiative. Donations can be made via Chapel & York Like this: Like Related
The Herald Scotland
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Edinburgh Festival Fringe street theatre shows under threat
But now the festival's famous street theatre events are under threat over a behind-the-scenes financial crisis. Read more: Organisers have admitted they can no longer afford to meet the soaring costs of running official spaces for performers, who have been a familiar sight at the festival since the 1970s. Local business are being urged to help pay the £250,000 needed to meet all of this year's street events staffing, safety, security and infrastructure costs, including providing temporary toilets and storage facilities for performers. The Royal Mile is thronged with visitors watching street performers during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The loss of a major sponsor for the street events, a shortage of public funding for the Fringe and rising city council charges are all said to have put the free outdoor performances from jugglers, acrobats, fire artists, magicians, 'living statues' and buskers at increasing risk. The arts charity has admitted it has been 'increasingly challenging' to stage the street events since the Covid pandemic, despite scaling back infrastructure and branding to drive down costs, which is also said to have made the street events less attractive to potential sponsors. The Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe The society revealed it was 'actively seeking' new support from businesses to help pay for 'core elements' of this year's street events programme, but may have to use some of its financial resources to ensure they go safely ahead in August. Chief executive Tony Lankester said there was a need for further talks after this year's festival to try to ensure the street performance are more 'sustainable' in future. Mr Lankester, who is overseeing his first festival after being appointed in January, described the street events as 'world-class and vital to the vibrant atmosphere in Edinburgh each August". The society was asked by the city council to take responsibility for the increasingly street performances in 1999 following the success of a move to close part of the Royal Mile to traffic during the Fringe. The society, which negotiates with the city council and the police on where performances should take place, works with officially registered street entertainers to allocate slots for performances the three-week festival. Most of the running costs of the street events were usually met by commercial sponsors, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland or Virgin Money, the most recent backer before the pandemic. However the only public funding in place for the street events this year is a £75,000 grant from the city council, the only direct funding it provides for the festival, which has been valued at more than £200 million to the economy and sells more than two million tickets every year. The Herald can reveal that the Fringe Society faces having to pay more than £40,000 back to the council following the introduction of a new charging regime for event organisers this year. The Scottish Government has helped meet the costs of putting on the street events in recent years but has yet to confirm any support for this year's festival, which gets underway in just seven weeks. A spokesperson for the society said: 'Street events have been an integral part of the Fringe landscape since the 1970s. They remain one of the largest international gatherings of street performers anywhere, they take place throughout the festival and are free for anyone to attend. 'We took on the operational running of street events at the request of the council in 1999. The delivery costs prior to Covid were generally funded by a single sponsor, which enabled us to cover the costs of staging and supporting the events. 'Since Covid, the market has changed, and the streetscape itself prioritises performance and the movement of people over branded street furniture, making a headline sponsor challenging to secure.' The Fringe Society described the street events as 'a central part of the experience of many residents and visitors in Edinburgh each summer.' The spokesperson added: 'We work closely with the council and local businesses to ensure they are delivered each year, and we're proud of the collaborative approach we've built in recent years. 'But the burden of finding in excess of £250,000 every year for the minimum delivery of the street events is increasingly challenging. 'We are actively seeking partners and supporters who, through activation, in-kind support and donations, can help us ensure we can cover the cost of the required core services to deliver safe, open, accessible and inclusive street events for 2025.' Mr Lankester said: ''The street events are world-class and vital to the vibrant atmosphere in Edinburgh each August. 'They are an essential, iconic and unique part of what Edinburgh offers its visitors and residents and the Fringe Society is committed to making sure this remains true. 'This year we have attracted some public funding to help us deliver the project, and the work of deepening the pool of funders continues. 'We're having some good conversations with local businesses who want to ensure that the energy the project brings to the streets is retained. 'Once this summer is behind us, we urge everyone with an interest in keeping street events thriving to put their heads together to find ways of making the project sustainable, and to be an ongoing part of the summer experience in Edinburgh.' Margaret Graham, the city council's culture convener, said: 'We're proud to host the world's best and largest collection of arts festivals, and the Fringe is an important part of this. 'In recognition of and support for its enduring importance, the Council provides significant grant funding to the Fringe Society. 'The new Fringe HQ in Infirmary Street has been a collaboration between the council and the Fringe Society. This is in addition to considerable operational support from officers to help stage the event, from street management to public safety. 'All of this is in close partnership with event organisers, and I'm pleased that we have such a good working relationship. The recent formation of a festivals leadership group is helping to shape a shared vision for the future of Edinburgh's Festivals, which bring so much to the city.' A spokesperson for the Scottish Government agency EventScotland confirmed discussions were still ongoing with the Fringe Society over potential support for the street events.
Scotsman
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
No new sponsor to replace Johnnie Walker as Fringe bosses draw up plans to demand tourist levy from council
The Fringe Society admitted it has not found a replacement sponsor for Johnnie Walker Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... No new sponsor has been found for the Fringe to replace Johnnie Walker, Fringe chiefs have admitted, as they draw up plans to demand tourist levy funds from Edinburgh Council. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said it could administer a funding pot made up predominantly from the city's visitor levy to help festival operators, under proposals being drawn up by the organisation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The society said it was compiling a comprehensive document which it will present to the City of Edinburgh Council by the end of the year, laying out the issues, problems and funding gaps identified by venue operators and other Fringe stakeholders. Among the recommendations will be the creation of a fund potentially administered by the Fringe, akin to the Scottish Government's £1.58m Platforms for Creative Excellence (PLACE) Resilience Fund, set up in 2022 to support the return of the festival in the wake of the pandemic. It would include at least £1.1m from the visitor levy, as well as additional money from sources including public funding. Tony Lankester is the new chief executive of the Fringe Society. | Fringe Society This comes as the Fringe admitted it had not yet found a replacement corporate sponsor for whisky brand Johnnie Walker, which ended its partnership last month, but insisted it would plug the gap with a string of smaller corporate tie ups yet to be announced. Chief executive Tony Lankester and deputy chief executive Lindsey Jackson spoke to The Scotsman as the Fringe launched its official programme for this August. This year's programme features work from 3,352 shows across 265 venues from 58 countries , slightly up on last year's figure of 3,317 shows. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair said the funding pot could be made up of 'at least' £1.1 million from the Visitor Levy tax, which is due to be introduced next year, as well as public funding and money from other sources. Ms Jackson said a 'collective Fringe proposition' document is being drawn up following consultation with festival stakeholders, ahead of the council forming its Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) forum, with an expectation that it could begin to create funds toward the end of the year. The Society is running a series of workshops with venues to understand 'where the pinch points are' and what challenges they are facing. 'From a Fringe Society's point of view, investment from the visitor levy needs to go to the festival, not to the Fringe Society: it's about what's happening out there, not what's happening in here,' said Ms Jackson. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Also [we're looking at] where the council needs to take responsibility and use its investment, or reduce costs or improve services, parks, access to clean drinking water, benches, toilets. Those things will all both reduce cost and reduce pressure on the whole environment generally, but will also make it a better experience in August. 'Our intention is, by the end of the year, with the venues, to have a collective fringe proposition and business case that is inarguable in its return on investment, its value for money. For a long time, the council and the city has said, 'We understand the Fringe's collective problems, but there's no money to support, we love to help, but we can't.' 'Now, this is our opportunity, so we will be right there on day one, knocking on the door with a well-evidenced and documented business case that says: 'This is why this is a long term and sustained return on investment. We all know that the Fringe contributes hundreds of millions of pounds to this city and many businesses, including accommodation providers. It feels like this is the right point at which the city finally has the money to put into supporting and underwriting the infrastructure. We're not expecting there to be miracles overnight, but we are expecting an early endorsement of the Fringe's need of value for money in that space.' Mr Lankester has pointed to a figure of £1.1m, which would be generated from the levy by Fringe performers alone, which he sees as a 'minimum' which should be handed back by the council. He said he had met 'informally' with venues to discuss synergies and ways the Fringe Society could support helping them to cut costs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pot could potentially give venues the chance to borrow funds which would allow them to pay out for infrastructure and other outgoings further in advance, ultimately making cost savings. Mr Lankester believes the business landscape has changed dramatically since the pandemic. 'The world we're in now is vastly different from a lot of us, five years ago or 10 years ago or two years ago,' he said. 'No one can operate now post-Covid in the same way they were operating pre-Covid. It's completely upended every single business model of every single industry on earth. Add to that, the broader economic environment, the introduction of artificial intelligence. All of that, we're operating in different place now. 'And I think it's incumbent upon every business operating in the landscape to use it as an opportunity to re interrogate all their business and just ask some fundamental questions: In this context, should we be scaling up? Should we be scaling down? Should we be doing more? Should we be doing less? Should we be offering different deals to artists? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It's not just a simplistic argument about what does the Fringe Society charge for X, or what is the council chance for Y? Those are part of it, but they're broader questions as well. We want to create the space where areas of collaboration can be surfaced. I think it's also worth partnering with the venues - and this is something the Fringe Society can do more of - to help them interrogate their own business models.' He admits there 'probably would have been' conversations with Johnnie Walker owner Diageo with an aim to renewing the sponsorship contract. The Society is targeting financial services, retail and beverage companies for potential deals. However, he believes the year-on-year income from sponsorships will not be 'vastly different' to last year, due to a string of smaller deals. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said: 'There are ongoing conversations, because medium term strategy for me is just to broaden that sponsorship pool so that we go from having five or six sponsors, to 10 or 15 sponsors with dovetail timing, so that they don't all start on the same day in the same year, so that we can even out some of the revenues. 'These things are elongated: there's not going to be a like-for-like replacement for the Johnnie Walker investment for 2025, but there will be other sponsors in the mix that maybe weren't there before.'
Edinburgh Reporter
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025
Later today the full Fringe 2025 programme will be published in print and online. The online version offers searchable database of the 3,352 shows which will be performed at 26 venues. Themes range across some of the most topical to Shakespeare and everything in between. Tony Lankester, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: 'Programme launch is such an exciting moment for everyone involved making the Fringe happen. Thank you to all the Fringe-makers – the artists, venues, workers, producers, technicians, promoters, support staff and audiences that bring their un-matched, exceptional energy to Edinburgh in August. 'This year's Fringe programme is filled with every kind of performance, so whether you're excited for theatre or circus, or the best of comedy, music, dance, children's shows, magic or cabaret; get ready to dare to discover this August. Jump right in, book your favourites, shows that intrigue you and take a chance on something new.' The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the charity that underpins the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe. It was established in 1958 by a group of artists to provide central services for the festival and ensure that it stays true to its founding purpose of inclusion and welcome to all. We exist to support and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe; to provide information and assistance to audiences; and to celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world. Based on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Society has a small team of staff who work year-round to assist all the artists and audiences who make the festival one of the best loved performing arts events on the planet. In 2022, as part of the Fringe's 75th anniversary, the Fringe Society launched a new collaborative vision and set of values, and made a series of commitments to become more inclusive, fair and sustainable. The vision is 'to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat'. The Fringe Society was awarded funding of £7 million by the UK Government and has entered a long lease of the premises at the former South Bridge Resource Centre which will become the Fringe Hub after considerable work has been carried out. Like this: Like Related
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Edinburgh fringe event organisers urged to capitalise on Oasis and AC/DC gigs
Organisers of Edinburgh fringe events have been urged to be 'pretty smart' and capitalise on the decision by Oasis and AC/DC to play gigs in the city midway through the festival. There was surprise and irritation when it emerged the bands would be staging four concerts at Murrayfield stadium in mid-August when the world's largest arts festival is in full flow. Tony Lankester, who recently took over as the Fringe Society's chief executive, said fringe companies should see the concerts as an opportunity rather than fret about downsides. About 75,000 fans are expected for each concert – three by Oasis and one by AC/DC, putting the city's trains, buses and trams under even greater strain, with visitors competing for already scarce and expensive hotel beds. Lankester, who previously ran South Africa's national arts festival, said fringe venues should tempt Edinburgh residents who may 'want to hide' when the concerts take place with discounted tickets or free wine. Venues could also tempt Oasis and AC/DC concertgoers with 'morning after' performances in the city with free bacon rolls and coffee, he suggested. 'What we don't want to happen is for the local audience to hide that night,' he said. 'There's some pretty smart marketing type things that I think venues could be looking at. The fact is that it's not going away. Why not be completely opportunistic about it?' This year's fringe, which runs from 1 to 25 Augustand takes place alongside the international festival and book festival, is expected to involve about 50,000 performances at 265 venues. Lankester said the strength of the programme, which includes themes such as rebellious women, the apocalypse, queer joy and rave culture, showed artists were as hungry as ever to perform despite global crises and tensions. 'What excites me most about the programme, is the signal that it sends is of an industry in healthy shape,' he said. For the first time, five shows from US performers are being underwritten by donors to the Keep it Fringe funding strand launched in 2023 by the Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the fringe's honorary president, to support new, marginalised or innovative acts. Lankester said he had numerous conversations that 'reaffirmed for me what I knew coming into this job, that there's a lot of love and joy around the fringe. It's something that people absolutely want to preserve, protect, engage with, be part of. It's still on an incredible number of people's bucket lists.' He said he was talking to major brands about the potential to become headline sponsors of the fringe for the first time, to bring in extra revenue for performers and venues at a time of intense pressure on public funding. He said those discussions were at an early stage, but indicated it could involve a bank or beer brand. No sponsor would be allowed to rebrand the fringe, but their investments would help the festival to improve its finances. Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion In her last newspaper interview, Shona McCarthy, Lankester's immediate predecessor, accused political leaders of consistently neglecting the fringe and failing to adequately invest in services, transport and infrastructure such as mobile phone services. Lankester said he 'stood by' everything McCarthy had said. Her 'enormously valuable' intervention had fuelled action and more responsiveness in the council, the Scottish government and other agencies, he said, adding: 'The message landed.' Lankester is lobbying Edinburgh council to devote at least £1.1m of a new visitor levy on hotel beds to supporting the festival, and is in talks about strengthening the city's ailing mobile and wifi services, as well as improved rail services for non-residents. The visitor levy will come into force in July 2026, but hotels will begin collecting it on all bookings made from October this year. 'What we don't want to happen is for that money to sort of disappear into a black hole and for no benefit to be felt by the people [who] drive a big chunk of that revenue,' he said.
