MULTI, award-winning digital agency, Line, has unveiled the first phase of a new-look Fringe website designed to ensure a consistent and easy user experience, as well as a stable online ticketing platform.
The site, soft-launched last month following exhaustive user-testing, has been completely rebuilt to cope with the anticipated pressure from millions of culture fans trying to buy tickets in the run up to the four-week festival.
The robust new system has already successfully handled a record number of bookings since going live.
Said Ross Laurie, managing director at Line : “Creating a new site for one of the world’s most important and influential cultural events is a challenge in and of itself, but when you combine that with a requirement to build in a ticketing system capable of coping with the Fringe’s vast programme and pattern of highly-intensive demand, it puts the task on a whole new level.
“Historically, that’s created a set of unique conditions that have made the job particularly difficult, but we’re satisfied that we’ve put in place a tried and tested solution that will prove up to the task.”
To cope with the peak time surges in demand frequently experienced by the Fringe site, Line developed a scalable site architecture tied into the Fringe’s existing back office ticketing system.
By moving to a cloud computing based, virtualised framework where servers can be added and switched on within seconds to cope with surges in demand, there should be no repeats of the problems that the portal has previously experienced when large numbers of theatre goers have attempted to book tickets simultaneously.
The Fringe site’s launch underlines Line’s growing expertise in large-scale transactional websites.
The company recent unveiled a new site for the Edinburgh International Film Festival and its third major events installation of the summer – the International Book Festival – comes online next week.
Phase two of the development will see a further leap in the Fringe site’s capabilities.
Due for completion in late August, Line will implement a raft of additional functions, including professional and user show reviews, a video channel, improved event searching and an event ‘departure board’ displaying real-time showtimes throughout the day.
Said Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Fringe: “We’re delighted to have delivered a site that does the world’s favourite arts festival justice. Not only has the team at Line already created an online presence that is safer, more robust and more effective than anything we’ve had before, but they are also poised to introduce a range of functionality that will make the portal a truly immersive, interactive experience.
“From now on, it won’t be only the crowds travelling to Scotland who can play a part in the Fringe.”
ENDS
About LINE
Insightful, knowledgeable and creative. That’s Line. A digital agency that works alongside our clients to deliver success for us both. Using sophisticated internet-based marketing techniques, Line offers accountability and results, delivering innovative easy-to-manage technology and award-winning design. The results are here for all to see.
About the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is widely acknowledged to be the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city. Every year, thousands of performers take to a multitude of stages all over Edinburgh to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival caters for everyone and includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and events.
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