Fringe crowds set record attendance numbers again this year, as more than 680,000 people had tickets visited the grounds.

Festival organizers were thrilled with the turnout, as attendance broke records for the second year in a row.

“Edmonton is coming out to enjoy the fringe in record levels,” said Fringe executive director Jill Roszell. “They love their festivals; they love this festival.”

Roszell said with exception of a brief storm that pelted the grounds with hail late last week, the weather held out beautifully for the entire run and crowds flocked to the grounds.

The Fringe has never has this many performers, venues or shows and Roszell said that will be a continuing challenge going forward.

“This is the biggest festival that we’ve ever had, literally in terms of numbers of venues and numbers of shows,” she said.  “It is an ever-growing fringe and there is a challenge in order to offer the same level of service and to be able to sustain and manage an ever growing festival.”

Maya McCoy, also known as Butterfly, and her husband Brent came from Vermont to perform on the Fringe’s outdoor stages and said they look forward to coming back.

“It is a great festival. It is huge and the way they community supports this festival it is such a great atmosphere.”