TICKETS for more than 1000 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe will go on sale in a fortnight.
The mass release will mean that more tickets than ever will be available before the official launch of its full programme on June 5.
That day is also officially the box office launch for the Fringe, but by then more than 1500 shows will be on sale, more than half of the amount of shows expected to be in the final programme.
Tickets for 553 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe are already being sold in what is the biggest early on-sale period in the festival's history.
On May 13 another group of shows, expected to number around 1000, will go on sale, including ones from the programmes of the Fringe's biggest venues: Assembly, the Assembly Rooms, Underbelly and the Pleasance.
A spokesman for the Fringe said that early sales of tickets, first introduced in 2012, allow international visitors to plan in advance.
He denied it undermined the traditional official launch of the festival in June.
He said: "I would say that for all the tickets on sale before the launch, that amount again will then be publicly on sale from June 5.
"Secondly, that is when the full programme is revealed, all the shows are in it, and we know the amount of shows, which is always interesting."
Already shows such as The Pitiless Storm with David Hayman, My Obsession with Paul Merton, Alan Bissett's The Pure, The Dead and The Brilliant, and stand-up acts such as Adam Riches, Brendan Burns, and Bridget Christie are on sale.
Tickets for David Greig's show All Back to Bowie's, a "mix of politics, poetry, polemic and pop" whose title is inspired by David Bowie's unexpected intervention in the Referendum debate, is also available.
Last year was a record-breaking season for the Fringe. The programme featured 2871 shows and admissions to shows, both free and paid tickets, climbed to 1,943,493.
The number of shows which have gone on sale early in the past were just 273 in 2012 and 296 in 2013.
This year, tickets first became available online at the beginning of January this year.
The second early sale date was April 10, when even more shows were put on sale.
The spokesman said that this year there had been a "concentrated effort by The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society to encourage producers and performers to make the most of placing their tickets on sale earlier by using this opportunity to start the promotion of their shows earlier to increase interest and ticket sales".
He said it was not feasible to move the official launch to earlier in the year.
Last year, 2871 shows from 24,107 performers took place in 273 venues.
Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, which runs the annual festival, said: "This is the third year we have offered advanced bookings for shows.
"Due to the huge increase each year of participants taking advantage of this opportunity, we have this year seen the biggest ever early on sale in the festival's history, which is very exciting.
"The decision to put tickets on sale early for Fringe artists is something we did in response to the needs of Fringe participants and venues.
"We know that many of the producers and performers are keen to sell as many tickets as possible.
"It's the job of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society to respond to the needs of those people."
She added: "Advance bookings also mean that Fringe audiences can begin making their plans for August as soon as possible, which allows them to have the best possible Fringe experience.
"I am delighted that this year has seen more shows than ever before take advantage of advanced bookings and I believe that this is definitely something we will continue to do."
The Fringe runs from August 1 to August 25.
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