The Stage

Licensing costs threaten venue operators at Edinburgh fringe

Published Tuesday 11 August 2009 at 15:12 by Matthew Hemley

Full coverage of the Edinburgh Festivals

Small venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have warned that the spiralling cost of licensing premises is putting their futures at risk, with the city council accused of increasing its rates by as much as 800% in the last three years.

Edinburgh City Council has been accused of “pure greed”, with the cheapest price of a temporary public entertainment licence, allowing for an audience of up to 200 and covering a six week period, costing £824.

They claim this compares unfavourably to other cities, with some arguing that the price of a temporary licence means there is a danger that venue producers will look for other cheaper festivals to take part in.

Julian Caddy, co-director of Sweet Entertainments, which offers ten performance spaces across six venues, said: “It smacks of pure greed given the council has a complete monopoly. Biting the hand that feeds you is pure madness, and if this continues small venues will be at risk of not being able to afford to return. It will be Edinburgh and the paying public who will miss out, and the very essence of the fringe will be lost.”

Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, who is chair of the Association of Independent Venue Producers, warned that “venue producers will relocate to other, cheaper cities”, while Maria Lagos, also from Sweet Entertainments, said the spiralling costs could impact on theatre companies.

“The exorbitant charges being levied on venue operators inevitably can only be passed on to performers and performing companies, which in turn means many fringe performing hopefuls just can’t afford to come,” she said.

Hartley Kemp, artistic director of C Venues, also expressed concern, and warned that a production his company had at the fringe was unlikely to “break even” because of the licence price.

David Kelly, from Edinburgh City Council’s licensing department, admitted the cost of public entertainment licences had “rocketed” in the last few years.

He could not confirm if this was by 800%, but said there was a time when a licence would only have cost around £130.

Kelly revealed the council had increased costs because it was “finding more or less the same volume of work” was being put into processing a full entertainment licence as as temporary one.

He added: “They could not justify having a lower fee for the temporary one, and a higher fee for a full one.”

Kelly also said it was unlikely the price would come down.