Tickets sales up as Edinburgh's festivals draw to a close

A dramatic firework display over Edinburgh has marked the end of this year's Fringe and International festivals.

Millions of people visited the capital throughout August to watch a myriad of comedy, theatre and music shows.

Almost 2.3 million tickets have been issued for 50,000 Fringe events, an increase of more than 5% on last year

The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) took £3.8m in ticket sales, up 19% on last year's receipts.

The fireworks to mark the end of the Edinburgh festivals were watched by 250,000 people across the various viewing areas throughout the city, police said.

About 20,000 people were in Princes Street and a further 14,000 attended the concert in Princes Street Gardens.

Supt Phil O'Kane said: "During August, Edinburgh has seen an unprecedented number of people attend the city to enjoy the festival atmosphere.

"Police Scotland has worked with all the relevant partner agencies to keep people safe and ensure they have been able to enjoy the world's largest and most diverse arts festival."

The festivals included a number of free outdoor performances such as a light show projected on to the Usher Hall to celebrate 50 years of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus.

Kath M Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: "As this year's Fringe draws to a close we can reflect on what a spectacular success it has been.

"Once again artists and audiences have travelled from across the globe to be a part of this unique cultural event.

"And with an estimated 2,298,090 tickets issued and many thousands of people attending the 800 free shows in the programme, I've no doubt every single person who watched a Fringe show, or experienced this wonderful festival city, will take away unforgettable memories."

The 2015 EIF has been acclaimed as an "outstanding year" with highly rated shows including Antigone with Juliette Binoche and Lanark by David Grieg.

Festival director Fergus Linehan said his first year in the role had been "exhilarating".

"All that remains is for us to thank the hundreds of artists and hundreds of thousands of audience members who continue to make the Edinburgh International Festival one of the wonders of the arts world," he said.

"This alliance of artists, audiences, government agencies, the media, donors and sponsors is unprecedented and all of us at the Festival office are deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to contribute to this remarkable organisation.

"We will continue to seek out artists of the highest calibre and present their work to the widest possible audience."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "From the opening notes and illuminations of the spectacular The Harmonium Project to the crescendo of the festival fireworks, this is has been a great year for the Edinburgh International Festival.

"The festival has delivered music, theatre, dance and culture of the highest quality, including Lanark - a remarkable production that we have been proud to support through the Edinburgh Festivals Expo fund.

"I have been impressed how the festival has pushed the boundaries to connect to wider audiences with projects such as Fanfare and 'From Castlebrae with Love."

She added: "This has been another incredible year for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The festival continues to evolve and work with the city to expand and offer more and more to audiences from across the world."