THE chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has announced she is stepping down after nine years in the role.
Shona McCarthy will depart as head of the Fringe Society in spring 2025.
Under her leadership, the world-renowned arts festival has expanded to more than 3700 shows with about 2.6 million tickets sold.
READ MORE: Future of Scottish arts venue cast into doubt as centre hit with HMRC order
The Fringe’s honorary president, Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, thanked McCarthy for “holding the festival together through its most challenging years”.
McCarthy (below), who took over from Kath Mainland in 2015, said it had been an “enormous privilege” to lead the festival.
“In my remaining time with the Fringe Society I will be relentless in continued work with all to ensure our charity is in its best shape to continue to support this globally exceptional festival."
'She convinced people of the importance of the Fringe'
McCarthy took the festival through the Covid lockdown a year after it celebrated its most successful year on record in 2019.
A full programme only returned in 2022.
In recent years, the Fringe has been hit by skyrocketing accommodation and venue costs.
READ MORE: I'm a working-class Scottish playwright – here's how the Fringe feels for me
Prominent performers including comic Jason Manford and Gail Porter said they had been “priced out” of the event by rapidly increasing living costs.
Waller-Bridge (above), whose Fleabag character made her debut at the festival in 2013, became the festival's first honorary president in 2021.
“Shona held the Fringe together through its most challenging years and guided it to its record-breaking peak,” she said.
“She is one in a billion. I am personally devastated that she is leaving, but equally thrilled that she can take a well-earned rest knowing that she has raised more money, staged more shows, convinced more people of the importance and vibrancy of the Fringe than should be humanly possible.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here