Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival is now in its third year. After two years of success and significant growth, in Autumn 2024 the organisers commissioned an independent evaluation of attendees at last year’s Fringe.
Undertaken by independent consultant Michael Scott the intention was to gather views on existing Fringe events and activities, to find out what audiences thought worked or should change in the future, and to provide information and insights to inform the Fringe’s future direction.
An online survey was sent out to over 300 people who attended the 2024 Fringe; here are some of the main findings:
- The survey found that 61% of attendees lived within 30 miles of Kirkcudbright although a number came from Scotland, Northern England and further afield.
- Of attendees 47% of were aged 65+ and 31% were 55–64 years.
- Attendees loved the lively, welcoming atmosphere in town, describing the “buzz” and friendliness as key highlights – as well as the variety of attractions available. As one person said:
The town was happy and bustling. There was an excellent range of events from the more serious to the more frivolous and everything in between.
- The Fringe received financial support to help keep prices affordable – 50.53% of attendees rated ticket prices as “Excellent” or “Good Value”, 37.89% found the pricing “Fair,” while only a few felt they were slightly expensive or too expensive.
- Events were rated by survey respondents and some of the most popular were:
- An illustrated talk at Broughton House on “A history of British Comedy in film, TV, and radio” by the author David Stubbs received a 5 out of 5 rating
- A talk by John Grace from The Guardian on “A journey through the ruins’ in Kirkcudbright Parish Church received a 4.8 out of 5 rating.
- An innovative concert by the classical music group Scottish Ensemble in the Church also received a 4.8 rating. (Main Image, Credit DGWGO)
- National Theatre’s award-winning immersive show ‘June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me’ at the Cochran Hall gained an average 4.6 rating.
- These events were overwhelmingly positively received, with a high percentage of 5-star ratings, and clearly catered well to audience expectations and interests.
- In response to comments, the 2025 Fringe will:
- Continue to provide a variety of events and attractions.
- Have more events for young people and families.
- Make available a wider range of food and refreshment opportunities.
- Programme more street-based, and free, entertainment.
- Collaborate with local groups and societies to organise linked events.
- Increase Scotland-wide publicity and local outreach.
- Have a new user-friendly ticketing platform for smoother bookings.
Gerry Hassan, co-founder of Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival, commented on the findings:
Kirkcudbright Fringe has made a great impact in a short period of time and already become part of the calendar of events and festivals of the town – and Dumfries and Galloway. We commissioned this report to know more about what brings people to the Fringe, what they would like in the future, and facts and evidence to aid us to build on the success of our first two years – and we are really pleased with what we discovered. All this will aid our planning for this year’s Fringe. Thank you to everyone who assisted in our survey and making the Fringe such a success.
