A record number of people attended shows on a single day at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, according to organisers.

The Fringe Society – which oversees the uncurated festival – said it notched up the highest attendance for a single day, on the second Saturday in August.

More than 164,000 tickets were issued, which was 1% higher than the previous peak on Saturday 17 August 2019.

Overall, it issued 2.8 million tickets for shows during this year's event - an 8% increase on last year.

However, there have been complaints from some performers about the later start, which meant that schools returned just days after the combined festivals began.

Over 25 days, the Fringe put on about 4,232 shows from 77 countries with 61,277 performances across 306 venues.

As of 11:30 on Monday, the last day of the Fringe, 2,805,395 tickets had been sold or issued for free.

Shows have explored themes including artificial intelligence, cults, the manosphere and the state of the world.

The event attracted the highest number of accredited journalists in its history, with more than 1,090 media professionals attending from 30 countries.

A total of 334 street performers, buskers and street artists performed in both the Royal Mile and Mound Precinct as part of the Fringe Street Events programme.

Tony Lankester, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: '"The Edinburgh Festival Fringe continues to be the world's best platform for artists at any stage of their career to showcase their work to global audiences.

"As Richard Gadd put it so eloquently – the Fringe remains the only place where someone can arrive with an idea and leave with a career.

"For 79 years, the Fringe has thrived because of the creativity, grit and resilience of the Fringe community. There quite simply would be no Fringe without artists and the risks they take."

Lankester added that every year there was "passionate debate and discussion" among participants and Edinburgh's residents about every aspect of the Fringe.

"This year was no different, and while there are many divergent opinions; what we all agree on is the need to keep the Fringe affordable for artists, venues and audiences - protecting its reputation as a global marketplace," he said.

"As we look to the festival's 80th anniversary, it's appropriate that we reflect on what we want the Fringe to be, and how we preserve Edinburgh's reputation as a world-class festival city.

"That's the challenge but also the opportunity – and we urge all stakeholders to make the most of it."

Next year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from 6 to 30 August.