It's been a chaotic and frustrating week for fans of the Edinburgh Fringe, as computer problems forced the closure of the central box office today.  With telephone sales also suspended, and the online programme still nowhere to be seen, the breakdown adds confusion and drama to the always-hectic opening days of June.

The first signs of a problem came at noon yesterday, when the much-awaited opening of the online box office was unexpectedly delayed.  Reports in Internet forums suggested telephone callers faced an hour on hold, and no guarantee of success when they finally were connected.

Then, today, came official word of a shutdown - with a notice on the Fringe's website confirming all sales were suspended.  There's no firm news on when the box office will re-open, though the Fringe does say it will make a further announcement at 10am tomorrow.

It's safe to assume the Fringe's woes are linked to its new ticketing system, introduced for the first time this year.  It's all a bit too reminiscent of last year's Big Four fiasco, when the Fringe's four biggest venue chains suffered a similar fate at the hands of new ticketing software - bringing down their popular cross-selling arrangement, and forcing one of them to drop out of online sales altogether.

Your options while the Fringe office is closed

This might be a good moment to get to grips with our in-depth article on Fringe ticketing.  As we explain, there are two separate ways to get tickets for the Fringe: through the central box office (which is currently closed), or directly from the venues.

Most of the larger venues have already opened their box offices, and as far as we know, they're all unaffected by the current crisis.  So for shows at - among others - Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Underbelly, C Venues, Sweet and the Traverse, you can book directly with the venue.  If you're booking a lot of tickets at different venues, though, it's likely to set you back a bit in booking fees.  The Fringe has put a very helpful article on their website with a summary of which box offices are now open.

Or, of course... you could just wait.  While we don't want to put you off booking a show you're truly desperate to see, we can guarantee that very, very few shows will sell out during June.

Sadly, we don't know any more than you do about when the Fringe box office will re-open - though we do know Fringe staff are working around the clock.  We'll post updates here as and when we get them.  And, in the meantime, don't forget this week's other major programme launch: the Edinburgh International Book Festival is setting out its stall on Thursday.