Exclusive:EIF: Edinburgh's festivals need joint ticketing platform so audience 'do not have to be experts'

EIF chief executive Francesca Hegyi said she was in “early discussions” with the other major festivals in Edinburgh over potential ways they can work together so that audience members do not “have to be an expert in how the festivals constitute themselves to be able to buy a ticket”.

Ms Hegyi also said she hoped to expand the EIF’s reach overseas, following in the footsteps of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which has toured in different parts of the world and the Edinburgh Science Festival, which has been the major programming partner for the Abu Dhabi Science Festival.

She said: “We’re coming up to our 80th anniversary and I think that’s a really good moment to pause and take stock and think about where the festivals, plural, are going, more generally in the future. It all feels very positive, but I think it’s undeniable that there are still areas of operation, or how we fit within the city, that could be improved.

“Talking to all of the other August festivals, it’s clear that we think we can do more together that could mean that it’s a better experience and more effective for Edinburgh.”

She said: “One thing that I know would make a huge amount of difference is a joined up box office experience, where you could put in your basket something from multiple festivals, so you don’t have to be an expert in how the festivals constitute themselves to be able to buy a ticket.”

She warned that the current set up was confusing to the general public.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as other festivals including the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, has grown up adjacent to the original EIF, which was founded in 1947 in the wake of the Second World War.

“I was talking to someone just yesterday who said unless you are familiar with the fact there are six festivals happening at once, how on earth would you possibly know?” she said. “So I think there is definitely something about creating a unified front door for the festivals.”

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She added: “It’s about us as festivals not requiring our audience members to be experts in who we are and be a bit more joined up and front facing. To be clear, it is not about merging the festivals, it’s about us all working together to be more audience friendly.”

She said discussions were in early stages with the other major festivals.

“We’ve had some really early conversations and the principle is well understood and well supported. In things like this, the devil is always in the detail, but I don’t think it’s beyond the wit of all of us to create something that really takes us collectively into the next phase, the next 80 years of the festivals.”

Ms Hegyi said the festivals could also work more closely together in community work, with young people, people with additional access needs and those in healthcare settings.

She said she wants locals who live and work in Edinburgh to see the festivals as a benefit, pointing to the £400 million generated each year by the events, but warned that festival season “takes its toll on the city”.

She said: “That’s a phenomenal amount, but if you live in a suburb and your only experience of the festival is that it makes your journey in in the morning in August more difficult, then you’re necessarily going to think that £400m is benefiting you in any way. It’s about how can we tell our story better and how can we be more relevant to people who live and work in Edinburgh?

“If we all planned that together, we might have a more streamlined and effective way of engaging with the city. so that our residents love us as much as our visitors.”

She added: “We are a global success story. One of the things that puzzles me slightly is that the further away from Edinburgh you get, the more likely people are to see the value of the festivals and I think we need to reverse that.”

The EIF had visitors from 91 different countries in August this year, as well as visits from more than 20 international delegations. Ms Hegyi said the festival wants to maximise the potential of overseas interest.

The Tattoo is next year touring Australia and New Zealand, visiting Brisbane and Auckland for the first time.

“It [growth] might also be exploring, as the Tattoo and Science Festivals have done very successfully, taking the brand internationally,” she said. “There’s interest in the festival from all around the world, could we make the most of that and exploit that in some way in the future that could alleviate some of the demand on the city, if we were to think about growth outside of Edinburgh.

“The Scottish diaspora is all over the world. Some countries are investing heavily in their arts infrastructure. Having some sort of presence in different cities around the world could be interesting. There is a sphere of online and digital that we could and should be looking at for the future. The future is definitely Edinburgh, but perhaps not just Edinburgh.”