Edinburgh's festival boom has continued in spectacular form this year, with both the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe posting record ticket totals.
The Fringe, which this year saw a baby as a the star of a show, a hit musical play, Counting Sheep, based around Ukrainian unrest, and record sales at several venues, said 2.45m tickets, the largest number ever issued, had been taken up for 50,266 performances across the capital in the last month.
The number of tickets issued reflects a 7.7% increase in comparison to tickets issued by the same point last year, which itself was a record year.
Four of the major venues at the Fringe, Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly, sold 1.3m tickets together at the Fringe, also a 7% increase and a record for the venues.
Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam of Underbelly said: "Did the first Fringe producers in the world 70 years ago have any idea what they were unleashing? Well, there are about 2.3m people applauding their genius now."
The International Festival (EIF) which came to an end with its traditional fireworks festival, also boasted increased numbers as well as acclaim for shows such as The Glass Menagerie, Norma, Monumental, Richard III, Alan Cumming's Sappy Songs and Barry Humphries Weimar Cabaret.
Edinburgh's International Festival has sold more than £4m in ticket sales for the first time.
Audiences to the festival (EIF), which closes with its annual fireworks concert, are estimated to be more than 440,000.
Overall audiences for the EIF are 12% up on last year.
The EIF also registered a "record year" for classical music ticket sales, with the Queen's Hall series in particular marking a high point in ticket sales.
Ticket sales income reached £4.2m, the EIF said.
Of these numbers, 27,000 attendees were counted at the free opening event, the Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time, which saw Edinburgh Castle transformed by digitally animated projections inspired by the city’s past, created by 59 Productions.
This year marked Shona McCarthy’s first Fringe as Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.
She said: "In 2016, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has once again been a spectacular success, welcoming performers and audiences from across the globe, and issuing an estimated 2,475,143 tickets.
"We hope that all those who attended ticketed shows, as well as the thousands of people who attended the 643 free shows in the programme, truly enjoyed their Fringe experience.
“The Fringe plays an essential role in the global arts community, providing a platform for artists from around the UK and the rest of the world to showcase their work and make new connections. With 48 countries represented in this year’s programme, the breadth and diversity of talent on offer has been astounding."
“We are now looking forward to our 70th anniversary celebrations in 2017 and hope that as many people as possible will join us to mark this fantastic milestone in the history of Edinburgh’s festivals.”
Fiona Hyslop, the culture secretary, said it had been an excellent year for the Fringe.
Fergus Linehan, director of the EIF, said: "At the end of three incredible weeks, 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."
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