No online ticket bookings on day one

Festival-goers should have been able to book tickets online today, but problems with a new box office system mean much of the site is not functional.

Even listings are unavailable, more than four days after the programme was officially launched.

The box office is taking bookings by phone and in person, but customers face long delays, with queues snaking down Edinburgh High Street.

A spokesman for the Fringe said: ‘There has been a delay in opening the Fringe box office for website sales today, we are attempting to resolve the problem as soon as possible.

‘We are open for telephone and counter sales at the publicised times. Unfortunately we are experiencing delays.

‘We have extended the opening hours to serve all those people who are waiting in the queue today. For any customers who could not wait we have taken contact telephone numbers so we can process their bookings tomorrow.

‘This year the Fringe has moved to a new box office system as the suppliers of the previous system could no longer meet the challenges of the Fringe.

‘We are confident we have chosen the best system for long term however implementing the system has presented some short-term challenges. In the meantime we are working hard to fix these problems.’

Tickets for many shows are, however, available from the venues' box offices, including:
Assembly: 0131 623 3030 Website
C Venues: 0845 260 1234
Gilded Balloon: 0131 668 1633 Website
Pleasance: 0131 556 6550 Website
Stand: 0131 558 7272 Website
Underbelly 0844 545 8252Website

The 2008 Fringe, which runs from August 3 to 25, features more than 18,000 performers in 2,000 shows. Chortle is currently listing 700 shows of interest to comedy fans.

Published: 9 Jun 2008