Edinburgh Fringe director stepping down

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Paul Gudgin, the director of the famed Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is stepping aside after eight years.

Gudgin leaves after the Fringe posted its most successful year ever with 1.5 million tickets sold for more than 1,800 shows in 2006, the BBC said Tuesday.

Gudgin said he would like to produce festival and event-related projects in Britain and internationally.

"It's been a great privilege to run the world's largest arts festival for the past eight years," Gudgin said, "but it's time for me to move on."

Gudgin said he will remain with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe until the launch of the 2007 program in June.