Free Fringe Founder Peter Buckley Hill has now posted the following on the Facebook Comedy Forum and the Chortle Forum. He is still maintaining that he and not Freestival has the rights to programme Cowgatehead this August and is offering those who are booked with Freestival the chance to apply for slots with Free Fringe by this Friday. He is still, however, stipulating that anyone applying is not connected to any other venues*, which may complicate things for some acts and may also mean that they have to formally cancel any booking with Feestival (sorry for the split infitniive, it sounds better like this). He also maintains below that contrary to Freestival's statement yesterday afternoon that there is no compromise deal on the table. He has so far not accepted Freestival's invitation to meet and attempt to resolve the matter face-to-face.
"To all shows who thought they were booked into Cowwgatehead with Freestival:
Once again I communicate to you via social media, having no other means of reaching you.
A number of shows who were “booked” with Freestival have applied to the Free Fringe. In many cases, we have placed them at the same times as their Fringe Programme listings. Others are still pending.
Until midnight on Friday we shall be considering only those shows for Cowgatehead who thought they had confirmed slots there. Such shows should apply to the Free Fringe, having read the Ethos and Conditions on
http://freefringeforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=2628 .
You should state clearly in your application the time slot and “room” you thought you had.
After that deadline, we shall consider all applications even-handedly as before, i.e. treating our own applicants, the ones with no Freestival background, equally. This reduces your chances of getting a time slot close to the one you thought you had, although of course you can still apply.
I believe there have been various posts on social media suggesting that a “compromise deal” is on the table. It isn’t. The current situation will not change. Because Freestival booked nine stages, plus two at St John’s, and because there will in reality be only six stages, not everybody can have the times they thought they had.
Any other version of reality is wishful thinking.
The Free Fringe has a job to do, dealing with such shows as choose to apply to it. Our energies will be concentrated on that."
*This is the contentious clause in Free Fringe's ethos: "You must not simultaneously apply to any other provider of free-admission shows. This includes Laughing Horse (“free festival”), Freestival, Heroes of Comedy and any other promoter of free-to-enter shows that may crop up... If accepted by us, members of your show must not be part of any other free-admission show at the 2015 Fringe except for one-off unbilled spots in variable bill shows.
Only we are the Free Fringe. Other organisations are not. If you have done a Fringe show with Laughing Horse or others in 2014 or earlier, you can apply to us for 2015 as long as you do not apply to them. You can do shows with them outside the Fringe; that doesn't concern us."
