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  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Features

Observations from a Kiwi at the Edinburgh Festival

6/11/2016

2 Comments

 

Catherine Hart

I do not think I need to explain the radical difference between Edinburgh and Wellington (NZ) Fringe in terms of size. It's obvious from any standing point that Edinburgh trumps in scale, popularity, and history. However, during my time working in both there are a couple of differences that I found surprising and interesting, which in turn was a surprise to me.

​Firstly, let me start off by stating my relationships with the two Fringes, since that has been paramount to my experiences in both. In Wellington I worked as a writer, a stage manager, a marketer and a reviewer. In Edinburgh I stage managed one venue for a company. In Wellington I worked on five shows in two weeks, varied in style, venue and my role. In Edinburgh I assisted in the performance of nine shows a day for the full month. In Wellington I mainly worked for free, or at most a profit share. In Edinburgh I was paid a weekly salary, plus food compensation.

Anyway, here's the fun part, the part you're really interested in. Here are the interesting, surprising differences.

1. The vibe. In Wellington Fringe is something that happens. It's fun, it's different, but it can pass by many without too much distinction. In Edinburgh, the city changes. There are food stalls, street performances, flyers littering every walkway. People flock from all over, and try to squeeze as many shows as possible into one day. Once the festival officially began, it took ten minutes longer to get anywhere because of the sheer amount of people. Rents are raised. Cafes and restaurants put out different menus. Everyone in the city witnesses this change, meaning everyone is affected by it.

2. The flyers. You have never encountered flyering like it. Seriously. Anywhere you go you are attacked by flyers, you could even cover your bathroom wall in them in an artistic collage. However, in Wellington apparently you need a buskers license to flyer in public. What's up with that?

3. The venues. In Edinburgh companies move in to take over, build and create venues all over the city. These spaces are literally rooms or tents that a company has taken over or built, and range in size and functionality. There is simply nothing to compare it to in Wellington. Side note: Adelaide Fringe seems to work in a similar way, with gardens of tents being constructed.

4. The festival itself. In Wellington we have the NZ Fringe Festival, the International Arts Festival, and the NZ International Comedy Festival. For Edinburgh, these are all rolled into one. The one thing that I didn't see as prominently were fringe shows, the shows that make no money but exist on the fringe of the theatre community. Comparatively, this dominates the Wellington Fringe.

5. The reviews. In Wellington we have a few review sites, with Theatreview a dominant presence. In Edinburgh there are so many review sites I don't even know where to begin. Not only are there many more reviews, but audiences know what to expect from certain publications. Many shows will also add a sticker of stars or useful comments from reviews to their posters as a further promotion for their show. It is worth noting that Theatreview reviews NZ shows at the Edinburgh fringe.

6. The work opportunities. While in New Zealand we have many companies, performances and passionate individuals, the amount of paid work in the Fringe is limited. In Edinburgh theatre practitioners are hired and travel from all over the world. Of course this is understandable when considering the size of the festivals, but it certainly leads me onto my next point...

7. The money. Where NZ Fringe struggles and constantly has funding cut (such as the recent cuts to Auckland Fringe), Edinburgh has money thrown at it from all directions. In saying that, I'm still not sure how many shows actually make money at the festival, due to the sheer competition surrounding them.

Undoubtedly there are more comparisons than these seven to be made, and I would love to hear from any fellow Kiwis about their experiences and how they may have differed. The Edinburgh Festival and the Wellington (NZ) Fringe Festival are both worthy and admirable festivals in their own right, and certainly both worth experiencing for any Kiwi artist.


**Do you have any further comparisons to be made? Or perhaps you have a comment regarding a different arts festival? We would love to hear your thoughts!**
2 Comments
Hannah Clarke link
18/11/2016 11:15:00 am

Kia ora Catherine

This is a really interesting piece. It's always good to hear experiences from different aspects of Fringes. As the director of the NZ Fringe and a practitioner at other Fringes myself I'm lucky in that I get to see both sides.

One point to note is that Edinburgh does have separate festivals. The Edinburgh Festival is their international festival, is totally programmed, and is a huge expensive beast mostly funded by government and sponsors investment. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (born on the Fringes of the main festival just like ours) is non-curated, open-access and runs more as an agency for the arts. They are also locally funded but to a much lower level, they're budget is a fraction of the festivals. The Edinburgh Festival has around 100 performances, the creme de la creme of the world with massive production values, the Fringe had over 3000 this year each self funded and self produced. I think they can get a bit lost but it really is a symbiotic existence.

A constant and long crying issue is that it's the venues and hoteliers and the retailers and the bar managers who make the money at Fringe. Those price hikes you mention, they're part of the reason so many locals rent their homes out for heaps more than their normal rent or mortgage and leave town for a month to the 1 Million visitors that descend on the city. While it is possible to break even in Edinburgh, I know I've done it, really you're there because it's the largest arts market in the world. It's where you get international bookings, where you get seen by the right people and meet the right people. Like minded people. Crazy people making crazy shows and touring them around the world for a living. It's where you get to see and experience 3000 amazing shows. Shows that have all done well somewhere else because without a 5 Star review on your poster you don't get a look in.

It's such a different and wild and wonderful beast. And a dream of ours. But something we're also cautious of. We know we have a responsibility to make sure new work in NZ has a platform, has a place to be tried and not get lost in a mire of 5 star reviews. Has a stage that audiences will get on board with, sit in front of, be open to experiences from.

NZ Fringe has grown 188% in the last five years despite only minimal funding increases. More than half our budget is sponsorship and contra from Wellington businesses. All of our budget goes on our small team and marketing the festival, just like Edinburgh we don't pay artists or venues. If we want to continue to grow, attract more promoters and audiences and offer artists exciting performance opportunities we really need venues to get on board. Wellington has a lack of venues, even with BATS hosting 29 shows this year! but one thing Edinburgh (and Melbourne, and Adelaide, and Perth...) has taught me is that any room can make a theatre. That's the beauty of Fringe performance.

Reply
Hello Hannah!
19/11/2016 05:21:27 am

First of all, let me thank you for responding in such a way. Reading your thoughts and the information that you provide only gives me more respect for the NZ Fringe. It is also a real pleasure to be able to have such a dialogue with you.

Thank you for clarifying the manner in which the Edinburgh Festival works. Since the festival seems to be run out of the same office, and definitely uses the same programme, this information is not that clear, but it also makes complete sense. I love the notion that these different festivals are symbiotic. The free (or what we would call koha) performances are plenty, and are performed across the board. I assume these are performances that technically come under the Fringe bracket.

Edinburgh certainly is a way to work with and meet other people within your field. I agree with your statement that it's "crazy people making crazy shows and touring them around the world for a living", as I saw performers and shows which I recognized from the NZ Fringe and Comedy Fest.

In terms of the popularity and growth of the festivals, I think that the NZ Fringe is admirable for growing at such a rate. I think my comments about lack of funding and opportunities in New Zealand comes from my frustration towards the government funding in the arts industry, and I truly wish it was different. However, I will also readily admit that there is probably much I don't know about the ins and outs of this topic. So thank you for providing the numbers! 188% is an absolutely massive increase, and such a thing to be proud of.

I totally agree with the notion of other festivals proving that any room can create a performance space, and I think Wellington is definitely jumping on this train with spaces such as 17 Tory Street and the Tararua Tramping Club rooms. I only wish that the general public and audiences could support these types of venues more readily.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond. I hope my comments did not come across as negative towards the NZ Fringe, because it is a festival that I support and adore with all of my being.

Catherine

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