The Fringe is the biggest festival in the world

William Burdett-Coutts, director of one of the largest Fringe venues, said the the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) had become "backward-looking".

Mr Burdett-Coutts said merging the two events would help market them across the world.

But the idea was rejected by Fringe director Paul Gudgin and the EIF who said the events were "very different".

The festival is in rude health with six new productions this year, including three new commissioned plays Jackie Westbrook, International Festival

The Fringe began in 1947 when a group of performers gate-crashed the official festival, which featured theatre, classical music, opera and dance.

EIF's current director, Brian McMaster, is due to retire in 2006.

Mr Burdett-Coutts, director of the Assembly Rooms, said his departure meant it was a good time for the EIF to consider it's future direction.

"I think the Edinburgh Festival is the greatest live event in the world, but I question whether it has any direction," Mr Burdett-Coutts said.

"While the Fringe keeps growing and goes from strength to strength, the International Festival seems stuck on a backward-looking formula which doesn't embrace the entirety of what Edinburgh is about."

But his comments were rejected by EIF marketing manager Jackie Westbrook.

'Healthy mix'

She said: "The festival is in rude health with six new productions this year, including three new commissioned plays."

Ms Westbrook added that the EIF invited artists to take part and was "about quality", while part of the Fringe's role was to allow many more people to perform in Edinburgh.

"They are all complementary and it's that very diversity that make the phenomenon which is the Edinburgh festival so special," she said.

Mr Gudgin also dismissed the idea, adding that umbrella Festival - made up of the EIF, the Fringe, the jazz, book and film festivals, the Military Tattoo and the Mela - offered "a healthy mix of competition and collaboration".