As part of the investment from the UK Government to develop the infrastructure of the Fringe Society, along with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, we’re delivering our Digital Transformation Strategy, which seeks to ensure your experience – as artist, audience, industry, media or resident – is supported and enhanced by our digital tools, namely our website and app.
Building new and building properly – sustainable, accessible, user focussed and open to all – takes time. We’re working on our long-term plan right now, but have also made some more immediate changes. We’ve built an interim website that is being delivered in phases ahead of Fringe 2025. We want this process to be as transparent as possible, so read on to find out more.
Background
The Fringe is an incredibly complex organism – an annual event, nearly a month long, attracting upwards of 3,000 shows across more than 250 venues, each with its own unique considerations in terms of box office, scheduling, pricing, access, marketing, infrastructure and so on. The Fringe Society is the charity that was set up by artists to support the festival; as the Fringe has grown over the years, our role as convener has become increasingly important to ensure the Fringe remains open to all. We’re here to ensure that everyone who has a hand in the Fringe – from artists, venues, audience members, media and arts industry to Edinburgh residents, local businesses, elected officials and many more – has a voice.
As a result, any major decisions we make must to take into consideration the wide and varied needs of the entire Fringe ecosystem – this can be a complicated and time-consuming process and we need to get it right for as many people as possible.
The old, old website
As we approached 2024, our previous website was reaching a significant age and was due for an upgrade. We wanted a replacement that could answer the complex needs of our variety of stakeholders, while also taking a massive step forwards in terms of accessibility and sustainability. This sort of development understandably has a cost attached – we were (and still are) in recovery from the pandemic, and it took time to pull together the funding sources that would allow us to commence this work. The development itself would also take time – two years to really do it properly – and it turned out, time was something we didn’t have.
In spring 2024, our web development agency told us that, due to its advanced age, the old Fringe website would not be able to operate beyond the 2024 festival. As such, we had no choice but to retire our old site and look for an interim solution to ensure continuity of service for Fringe audiences.
The interim website
We chose to work with equ, the developers of the official EdFringe app since 2023 – they were already familiar with the complexities of the Fringe, and easy integration between the website and the app was a bonus.
Bearing in mind the wide variety of Fringe user needs, the turnaround time was challenging – the new website development was projected for two years, but this one needed to be operational within seven months. We knew it would be difficult to ensure that the interim website would replicate all the functions of the old one in that timeframe, so we decided on a phased release schedule, in sync with the established calendar of show reveal dates. This meant that features that were less critical early in the year would be deferred until later releases, ensuring the most essential functions – such as the ability to book tickets safely and securely – were prioritised.
The release process is ongoing – if you have feedback about your experience with the website as it stands right now, we’d love to hear it:
Where we are now
The first show listings for Fringe 2025 went live on 12 March, and while some users experienced errors on the site, our primary goal was a success: the first ticket sales on behalf of artists and venues went through.
The next web development release is on track to land alongside the second show reveal date on 02 April, and includes bringing back features such as ‘My Favourites’ and ‘My Planner’, alongside other developments. In tandem, we’ll also be working on the feedback gathered from the first release, ironing out any issues and ensuring the site runs as smoothly and securely as possible.
As with everything we do, our primary objectives are to help artists bring work to the festival, and to help audiences find it. With that in mind – why not support an artist by booking some tickets right now?
The future we’re working towards
The primary objectives of our digital transformation project are as follows:
- Enhanced accessibility: Implement a user-friendly interface and modernise the digital infrastructure to ensure that all users, stakeholders and employees can access and interact with digital systems efficiently and intuitively.
- Environmental sustainability: Redesign digital infrastructure with a focus on sustainability by optimising resource usage, reducing energy consumption and minimising the environmental impact of data operations.
- Unified data architecture: Develop a cohesive data architecture that integrates disparate data sources and enables seamless data access, analytics and reporting for all users across the organisation.
- Single sign-on (SSO) integration: Implement SSO functionality to provide users with a unified and secure authentication experience across all digital systems. This streamlines access, enhances security and simplifies user interactions.
- Open access data: Establish a transparent and collaborative data-sharing framework that promotes accessibility and facilitates the responsible exchange of information, fostering innovation, research and informed decision-making among stakeholders while upholding data governance and privacy standards.
