One of the key figures of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is to again run the venue that made his name.
William Burdett Coutts will once again run the Assembly Rooms after the Riverside Trust, for which he is artistic director, won the tender to run the George Street venue.
The venue, which is owned by the City of Edinburgh council, will now be home to an "innovative new digital festival".
Mr Burdett Coutts ran the venue from 1981 until 2010, when after a £9m revamp the venue was run by Salt'n'Sauce Promotions.
The Riverside Trust will be revealing its full line up in due course.
The new contract will run from 2016 to 2017 with the potential to extend the agreement until 2018.
Burdett-Coutts said: "Riverside Studios is delighted to have won the tender to run events at the Assembly Rooms during the Festival period.
"We are rebuilding our venue in London and the invention of a new digital festival fits entirely with our ambitions for the future.
"At the same time we believe that the world of arts and entertainment is increasingly working with digital technology and creating a festival to focus on this work is equally of benefit in its own right.
"It will fit as a positive new event in the midst of all the other festivals in August and, in due course, our ambition will be to work with a whole range of partners in the city."
Councillor Richard Lewis, culture convener, said: “Every year artists from all over the world travel to Edinburgh to bring Festival Fringe audiences new and extraordinary work.
"It’s because of them that the Fringe is so successful and innovative.
"Salt’n’Sauce produced an outstanding and varied Festival programme at the Assembly Rooms and I’d like to congratulate and thank them for their success.
"After undergoing a significant refurbishment, the Assembly Rooms really is one of Edinburgh’s premier venues. Riverside Studios has promised the creation of a Fringe feast fit for the digital age and I can’t wait to see the venue used in this way."
Shona Clelland, general manager of Assembly Rooms, said: “The hope when we took the step to issue the tender was that potential suppliers would be inspired by the space and the opportunity to create something completely new and exciting.
"We felt this was exactly what Riverside Studios’ tender delivered."
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