Edinburgh Fringe ticket sales up 5%

Ticket sales have been up in Edinburgh this year

Ticket sales at this year's Edinburgh Fringe are up by an estimated 5%, according to its organisers.

The Fringe Society said more than 1,943,000 tickets were issued, with some shows still to have their final performance.

It follows a slight drop in ticket sales last year caused by a clash with the Olympics being held in London.

Many individual venues are reporting even higher increases, with established venues up between 20% and 30%.

The 2013 programme for the Fringe, the biggest arts festival in the world, featured 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows at a total of 273 venues across the city.

The programme contained 713 free shows which do not sell tickets but asked the audience to contribute at the end of the show.

These shows were not included in the box office ticket sales.

Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: "Our loyal and enthusiastic audience has once again been treated to the most amazing cultural experience and has been both challenged and entertained by a programme of spectacular work across all art forms from all around the world.

"Over the past 25 days, audiences from Edinburgh, Scotland, the rest of the UK and across the globe have been inspired by world-class performers, writers and artists in the largest celebration of art and entertainment in the world.

"I would like, on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people who visited the Fringe this year, to thank them for showing us their incredible talent and courage by bringing so many extraordinary shows and events to our capital city."

The 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from the 1 August to 25 August.