equ developed app plays major role in supporting successful Edinburgh Fringe

After an incredible three and a half weeks, showcasing 3535 shows from 72 countries and more than 60,000 individual performances, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has come to a close for 2023. The end of the festival also marks a key milestone for the organisers who selected a class-leading app developed by Perth-based digital agency, equ, to play an important role in improving the overall user experience of festival-goers.

Since launching just prior to the start of the festival, the app has seen more than 100,000 downloads and accounted for nearly 400,000 ticket sales directly through the platform.

equ Managing Director, Warren Gibbs, said: “I’m proud that an independent Perth-based team has developed a platform that has become a central part of the world’s largest arts event.

“The opportunity to form a partnership with the Edinburgh Fringe Society arose from the experience, knowledge and partnership we have formed with locally-based FRINGE WORLD over the past four years.

“Edinburgh’s commitment to the platform created an immediate need to address the multitude of major design and technical to meet the vastly increased scale of the event.

“However, this decision will lead to significant future economies-of-scale meaning there will be a greater ability to evolve and develop the product roadmap for the benefit of both festivals.”

Gibbs believes many other festivals will also see the benefits of the app they have created.

He said: “The ticketing and event management systems used by many global festivals share many commonalities, which means the more partners that adopt the product the greater the investment in development can be collectively shared with genuine benefits for all.

“Each festival is an incredible opportunity to learn from the issues and opportunities that will ultimately lead to the platform better serving the needs of all stakeholders.”

Gibbs and business partner, Stephen Dodge, have just returned from experiencing the Edinburgh Fringe firsthand, and were blown away by what they witnessed.

Gibbs and Dodge said: “It was incredible to see this event up close and understand how people explore, choose and book shows which are seemingly endless.

“It is almost unimaginable that an event of this size, scale, energy and diversity could be navigated without the product and associated functionality we have created.”

Gibbs added that he is looking forward to continuing the partnership with both FRINGE WORLD and the Edinburgh Fringe Society teams, and has since received approaches from a number of other large festivals who are keen to assess the suitability of adopting the app to improve the customer experience of their own events.

“We will continue to evolve and improve this product with the goal of developing a world-class product that will be seen as the benchmark for festivals around the world.”

For more information, contact warren@equ.com.au.