The Stage

Fringe Society gives participants more say

Published Wednesday 24 November 2010 at 11:03 by Thom Dibdin

Everyone taking part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe will automatically be entitled to a voice in the running of the annual event, after the Fringe Society overwhelmingly ratified a new constitution.

An extraordinary general meeting of the society on Sunday agreed by a majority of 93% to pass the new document, which reserves places on the board for fringe performers and venue operators. The new constitution also creates a “participants council” which, for the first time, will give performers, producers and venue operators a right to be consulted by the board.

Speaking after the meeting, board member Tommy Sheppard said the reform would mean there was a direct engagement between the officers of the society and the participants “in a way that has never structurally been in place before”.

“There is now a formal mechanism for consultation which will allow people to feel more part of the administration of the event,” he said. “It will also strengthen the secretariat because it will mean the decisions they take are informed by the people delivering stuff on the ground.”

This is the first change to the society’s constitution since it was registered as a charity in 1969. It follows dissatisfaction over the box office failure during the 2008 fringe, when a newly-installed system was unable to cope with demand.

Applications to join the society have reopened after being suspended at the start of the formal consultation over the new constitution, in which more than 2,000 people took part. Those registering for next year’s fringe will be asked if they want to opt in to membership of the society.

The new make-up of the society’s board will be four performer members, four members nominated by venues and four members who have “an interest in the furtherance of the charitable objectives of the society”. These 12 will be able to co-opt a further four directors to take up any skills gap. The current board has space for 16 directors without any affiliation.

The new participants council will comprise a maximum of 12 society members, with four each from members who are performers, producers of fringe shows or are nominated by a registered fringe venue. Council and board members will be elected by all members of the fringe.

Christopher Richardson, former director of Pleasance Theatre, told The Stage “the participants council is a very good idea which should have happened years ago”.