BRIGHTON Fringe came to a close yesterday with organisers celebrating booming attendances to the open-access arts festival.

The Fringe is expected to record an increase of 25% in attendances on last year, with the opening weekend alone seeing growth of more than 50% on the previous year.

Fringe audiences are up by 90% since 2011 with managing director Julian Caddy saying the jump was “absolutely staggering”.

He added: “What pleases me even more is that, over the same period, the number of shows and performances has only grown by 15%, meaning average audiences are up by 75% per performance.”

Last night The Argus was at an awards ceremony at the new Warren venue in the grounds of St Peter’s Church, where excelling artists were acknowledged for their efforts.

This newspaper presented The Argus Fringe Arch Angel to Point And Shoot, a musical show, where four performers rotated through more than 50 characters and 16 instruments.

Blending film sequences through a series of increasingly ridiculous plot twists, it was one of 11 Fringe shows at the time of writing to be given an Angel.

Other Argus Angels awarded to the Fringe last week included one for Hiraeth at the Basement, a theatrical piece about moving on, explored “unusually and originally”, according to our reviewer.

Argus entertainment writer Duncan Hall, who has been covering the Fringe since 2007, said: “Since I first started working in Brighton, the Fringe has more than doubled in size.

“With local promoters and theatres – Otherplace, the Spiegeltent, the Dukebox, the Marlborough – the quality has increased year on year, too.

“There have been some amazing performances this year and also some great new venues such as the Bosco Theater, the Rialto Theatre and The Lantern as well as The Theatre Box within the Warren itself.

“This all bodes well for Brighton Fringe 2016.”

Mr Caddy told The Argus: “This year has gone beyond all expectations. It’s something we should really be proud of.

“The Fringe is very much front-of-mind now for people here rather than further down the list.”

He praised the outdoor venues this year, adding: “We are already thinking about next year. We are looking at several quite exciting plans including a night time Fringe City.

“But all these are subject to us fundraising furiously first.”

FACTFILE

This year’s Fringe put on nearly 780 events.

182 were free and 560 were under £10.

There were 233 world premieres.

This year, the average ticket price was about £8.80 – 19p lower than it was five years ago.

There have been 286 events by local artists and groups and 57 international acts from 22 countries.

In 2014, Brighton Fringe attracted more than 250,000 people to the area, 50,000 of which came to Fringe City, a free series of events around New Road and Pavilion Gardens in Brighton. It brought £10 million to the local economy.