Edinburgh book festival defies economic gloom with record year
Organisers say they sold nearly 80% of all tickets
Organisers say they sold nearly 80% of all tickets
High footfall ... Edinburgh international book festival. Photograph: Murdo Macleod
The Edinburgh international book festival has revealed further evidence about the strength of the arts during the recession after enjoying record ticket sales this year.
The event, the world's largest literature festival, sold nearly 80% of all its tickets for more than 750 events this year, mirroring a record level of 1.85m ticket sales announced by the Edinburgh festival fringe yesterday. The book festival, held chiefly in a village of tents in the New Town, was also larger than last year when it sold 75% of its tickets, with 10,000 more tickets on sale.
More than 800 authors, including Carol Ann Duffy, Margaret Atwood, David Peace and Garrison Keillor, took part. And the event closed last night with a reading by the Edinburgh-born novelist Candia McWilliam; it was her first public appearance after an operation to correct a severe disorder which forced her eyelids shut and left her blind for two years.
The bookshops on site also saw a "significant upturn", the festival said, despite the difficult economic climate and often poor weather this summer. Andrew Coulton, the event's administrative director, said the event had had an "excellent year".
Festival administrators and producers across the city say that, in common with theatres in London's West End, audiences are searching for an escape from the recession and holidaying at home in increasing numbers. Hoteliers in Edinburgh reported that occupancy rates were up by 7.7% in July, compared to a UK-wide fall of 5.4%.
More at The Guardian.
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