Performers, operators of Fringe venues, and producers will have much more of a say in the running of the Fringe Society, the organisation that underpins the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, after members voted to adopt a new constitution this weekend.
Set up in 1957, the Fringe Society plays a vital role in promoting the Fringe through its annual programme and web site, as a resource for information, and in handling ticket sales.
However, the charitable organisation has been criticised for being unrepresentative and incompetent, particularly over the Fringe Society board's handling of the box office debacle in 2008 when ticket sales had to be suspended several times.
The Fringe Society's new constitution, its first major revision in forty years, will include the establishment of a Participants’ Council designed to give performers, producers and venue operators a right to be consulted by the board for the first time ever.
It will also introduce reserved places on the Fringe Society board for performers and venue operators.
Furthermore, "to ensure the highest possible levels of expertise" the constitution allows for the appointing of additional members to the board. Box office fiascos should be a thing of the past.
The process for updating the Fringe Society's constituion saw some 2,000 people participate in a consultation process over the year, by completing online surveys or by attending meetings. Members voted at the Extraordinary General Meeting to adopt the new constitution yesterday.
"When the board decided to carry out the first root-and-branch review of the Fringe Society’s constitution in forty years we agreed that building a consensus on what changes should be made was important. That is why over the last year we have held the most extensive consultation ever in the Fringe’s sixty four year history," said Tommy Sheppard, director of the Stand Comedy Club, and member of the Fringe Society board and working group that has led the review process.
"The new constitution includes a different approach to how we form the Society’s Board so that it will always have within it the voices of performers and venues. This is to ensure that the Board will know the impact of its every decision on the venues and performers who are integral to the Fringe’s success and was one of the key things that came out of the consultation."
Sheppard said that the new Participants’ Council will provide a forum for "those people whose creativity and drive makes the Fringe happen each year". The Society hopes that it will attract many more than its current 200 individual members going forward.
"Our hope is that the Participants’ Council will flourish and grow into a strong voice setting out ideas and initiatives that will contribute to the growth and development of the Fringe in years to come," said Sheppard.
About the Fringe Society
- The Festival Fringe Society was established in 1957 and is the company that organises the structure that underpins the Edinburgh Festival Fringe through advice and support to participants; providing comprehensive information, including ticketing and publishing a programme and promoting the Fringe as a festival in the context of Edinburgh and its other festivals.
- The former constitution of the Festival Fringe Society was written in 1969 at which point the Society was registered as a charitable company.
- The Society is a charitable company and is regulated both by OSCR (Scottish Charities Regulator) and the Companies Acts passed by the UK Parliament.
Membership of the Fringe Society
- To apply for membership of the Fringe Society email [email protected].