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Edinburgh International Book Festival director Nick Barley has outlined a major shift in the behaviour of ticket-buyers after this year\u2019s event attracted 100,000 attendees.<\/p>\n
Barley revealed that a greater proportion of people had booked tickets on the same day, while an outdoor screen and \u201cpay-what-you-can\u201d ticket prices had opened up the festival to newcomers.<\/p>\n
Of the full programme of 600 events \u2013 a third fewer than 2019, the most recent pre-pandemic edition of the festival \u2013 some 200 were streamed online and will be available on demand for the remainder of the year.<\/p>\n
Viewers tuned in from a total of 65 countries to watch the festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year was always going to be a bit of an unknown,\u201d Barley said, according to the BBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut an overwhelmingly positive response from audiences old and new, local residents, festival goers and individuals from every corner of the world has made it an absolute joy to deliver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are under no illusions that this is only the beginning of our build-back journey, and our focus now is to consolidate and respond to what we\u2019ve learned from the year as we plan our return to the Edinburgh College of Art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, rising accommodation costs were blamed after a total of 2.2 million tickets were sold<\/a> for this year\u2019s Edinburgh Fringe \u2013 26.7% down on the most recent pre-pandemic edition of the festival in 2019.<\/p>\n Image: Adam Wilson on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n