Fringe Festival attendance: 46,280 tickets sold to 829 performances

Attendance for the 2012 Minnesota Fringe Festival was essentially on par with the 2011 festival.

The annual 11-day performing arts festival closed yesterday, and preliminary numbers indicate that 46,280 tickets were distributed for 163 different shows.

This year's average audience size was exactly the same as last year's: 56 people per performance, spread across 829 performances.

According to sales of the Fringe festival button (required for admission), the number of individual attendees is estimated at 16,424.

The 2012 festival featured 36 fewer performances than the 2011 festival due to last minute show cancellations.

The three top ticket-sellers of this year's festival were "Ash Land," "Class of 98" and "Nightmare without Pants."

The 20th annual Minnesota Fringe Festival is scheduled for Thurs., Aug. 1 through Sun., Aug. 11, 2013, in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

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