Virgin Money, the financial services division of the Virgin Group, has announced a sponsorship deal with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society for ‘Fringe on the High Street’. ‘Fringe on the High Street’ is the now famous range of daily outdoor performances that take place during the Fringe on the Royal Mile and The Mound precinct and includes the Half Price Hut.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place in Scotland's capital city for three weeks every August. The Fringe Society has been managing outdoor events on the High Street since 2000.

In 2010 the Fringe saw 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows, featuring over 21,000 performers from over 30 countries. Around one million people came to the High Street in August to sample the entertainment on offer. Over the month visitors could take in 278 extracts of Fringe shows performed on specially constructed outdoor stages, 89 performers staging circle shows, over 200 buskers and over 54 other assorted artists.

Virgin Money's Chief Executive, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, said:

"I am delighted that Virgin Money will be supporting the arts by sponsoring the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Our headquarters are based in Edinburgh and we have plans to grow significantly in the city. This sponsorship demonstrates our commitment to the City of Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole.

"The ‘Fringe on the High Street’ event offers the people of Edinburgh, and hundreds of thousands of visitors, a chance to watch for free, the best street theatre in the world as well as extracts from hundreds of Fringe shows.

Virgin Money’s sponsorship of ‘Fringe on the High Street’ will run for three years from 2011 to 2013.

The 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from the 5th to 29th of August.