Milton Keynes Festival Fringe 2013 -Headline Data!

Milton Keynes Festival Fringe aims to champion the arts and people’s perceptions and expectations of the arts, animating unusual spaces and staging experimental activity which engages, challenges, surprises and entertains audiences.  The 2013 MK Fringe inspired and enthralled audiences and participants alike; a very successful four day event was delivered seamlessly, in time and on budget.




In contrast to those surveyed last year (who just happened to be passing), visitors to Milton Keynes Festival Fringe this year were visiting specifically to engage in the wide range of events available. Over 90% rated the experience as “good” or “very good” and 91% would be likely to recommend the events to others.

Most strikingly less than 5% of those asked, were ‘accidental audience’ ie had ‘stumbled upon’ the Fringe. In comparison, last year over 60% of those asked were just passing through and had ‘stumbled upon’ the Fringe -on the way to shop or attend the International Festival. This represents a huge increase in our dedicated audience or following. In fact, some of those asked had come specifically to an event because of the “reputation of the event”.

The largest number had come to ‘be entertained’ and because ‘the children wanted to come’! Furthermore, there is more evidence to suggest a growing trend in our audience following: There was a 20% increase, from last year to this, in people who responded ‘yes’ to having attended a similar event previously.


Nearly half of those asked had found out about the events by ‘word of mouth’ (including social media) and there was also an encouraging increase in those who had seen printed material (including press). This is in comparison to last year when most had ‘stumbled upon’ the events and only 10% had seen any press coverage or posters. 

The press coverage generally, was excellent when considering the amount of summer festival activity, including music and arts events, which were happening over the same weekend as the Fringe locally.

The audience numbers were also up on last year, although we ran a much shorter festival period this year. We once again used a sticker system to count those who were actively engaging directly with events (not just walking past).
We counted 11,805 but this figure does not include the Walking with Giants parade which we estimate attracted an additional 8,000-10,000 people.
This figure does not include the on line audience either which was also good; we received 4275 hits on the website during the week of the Festival with a peak of 1015 on the final day.

We recruited over 30 volunteers and we programmed over 20 events, mostly in the Theatre District over the four days, which involved the staging of over 50 artists, all of who gave us brilliant feedback and many of who are keen to return next year. 

The Fringe was very good value; 80% of the total budget was artistic expenditure i.e. artist fees and staging costs and less than 20% was spent on admin, management and overheads. This was down to the good will of our volunteers and also the dedication and commitment of the Fringe team.

The programme showcased outdoor arts, dance, walkabout theatre, vignettes, visual arts, music, workshops and events, staged in unusual spaces that aren’t always associated with the arts. It included a mix of invited and open call commissions with opportunities for local regional and national artists. About 50% of the participating artists were local to MK.

The Fringe supports local arts organisations to come together to collaborate, share skills and evaluate practices and resources. A successful Fringe Festival can benefit arts organisations, independent producers and venues by bringing in new audiences and extra income opportunities.
We are looking forward to working closely with some of these organisations again and hopefully others too.