Brighton Fringe organisers report surge in ticket sales

Brighton Fringe has reported a surge of demand for tickets during the first week of the festival.

The Fringe, which kicked off on 28 May, has already passed its box office target, which organisers say shows "there is a huge appetite for audiences on the south coast to return to the theatre."

Ticket sales total more than 40,000 so far, meaning the initial target of £250,000 for the festival has been surpassed with sales above £300,000.

Brighton Fringe CEO Julian Caddy said: "The enthusiasm has been overwhelming and the scale of the sales has taken us all by surprise.

"I'd like to thank everyone involved at Brighton Fringe for their incredibly hard work in getting everything together and also of course our audiences for having faith in us that we can deliver live performance safely, whilst also offering a massive selection of online work as well."

The festival continues until 27 June, with some venues running extended programmes until 11 July. This year's programme includes over 500 in-person and digital events at 90 venues.

It runs concurrently with Brighton Festival, which is guest directed this year by poet Lemn Sissay.

JD Henshaw, artistic director at Sweet Venues, said: "Being able to welcome both new and regular audiences back to our spaces has been humbling. It means the world to us and our performers that so much support is out there."