THE Edinburgh Festival Fringe is likely to be postponed because of the coronavirus, sources have claimed.

The festival, held yearly in Scotland’s capital city, is worth more than £300 million to the country’s economy.

According to the Edinburgh Evening News there is broad agreement that planning for all of Edinburgh’s summer festivals, including the EIF, and the book festival, should be halted until lockdown rules come to an end.

An official announcement is expected to be made tomorrow.

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An insider told the paper: “We are desperate to put on something in August, but only if the authorities say it is safe enough.

“No-one knows when that might be and no-one can plan anything on that basis at the moment.

“The only sensible thing for anyone involved in the Fringe to do at the moment is put things on hold for as long as it takes and see if things change.

“If Edinburgh is back open for business in August a lot of people in the city will be desperate to go out and be entertained.”

Another insider said: “The important thing to stress is that if anything was to go ahead in Edinburgh in August it would be on a much smaller scale than normal.

“The vast majority of the audience would be local and it’s highly unlikely many of the acts would be coming in from overseas.”

Earlier this month, the deadline for performers to secure entry to the Fringe programme was delayed until May, while the launch of the event was put back until July.

Speaking last week, Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy said: “We’ve been in regular dialogue with the Scottish Government, the council, venues, partners and other stakeholders to work through all options and find solutions.

"This is a complicated process, but one that is moving forward daily.”

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