Fringe officials ignored ticket warnings

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Officials with the Edinburgh Fringe festival in Scotland ignored warnings that their new ticketing system may not work correctly, industry officials say.

Performers and venue operators say they warned officials with the world's largest arts festival about the untested system prior to its inception, yet their warnings were repeatedly ignored, The Scotsman said Sunday.

"The Fringe Society were warned well in advance about the computer system," said Julian Caddy, whose company, Sweet, maintains performance spaces. "It is something that people have been talking about, and raising concerns about, for many months now."

After the new Fringe ticket system was implemented, consistent problems caused multiple shutdowns of the festival's telephone and counter sales.

The resulting backlog was eventually cleared up after Fringe officials used an alternate box office system, the Scotsman said.

Meanwhile, Irish comedian Ed Byrne has called on the festival group to compensate those individuals inconvenienced by the ticket issues.

"The Fringe messed up and they should pay the difference and book people in for another show, but they won't do it," Byrne said.