As the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe get under way, familiar arguments are already resurfacing.
Many residents will complain that the city has been overwhelmed, with the centre and public transport difficult to navigate, particularly following the disruption caused by the fire on Princes Street. Others will argue that Edinburgh is fortunate to host one of the world’s largest arts festivals. Both views are likely to dominate the conversation over the coming weeks.
Another debate has become just as familiar. Has the Fringe ceased to be the open, accessible festival it once claimed to be?
The Fringe was founded as an open-access festival, allowing anyone to stage a performance. For many years, performers could find inexpensive accommodation and affordable venues, while audiences could experience dozens of shows without spending a great deal. Rising costs have changed that picture.
“What has changed in the Fringe is what has changed in society”
Veteran comedian Stewart Lee is among those who believe the Fringe reflects wider economic changes. As he recently told BBC Radio Scotland, “what has changed in the Fringe is what has changed in society and economics.” Lee recalled performing with a student company in 1987, when the cast slept on the floor of a church hall without running water, washing instead at the Infirmary Street Baths, now home to Dovecot Studios. It was hardly luxurious, but it made bringing a show to Edinburgh “economically viable”.
Today, Lee argues, performers increasingly need to be “bankrolled in some way”, favouring those from wealthy backgrounds, those with financial backing, or those who are simply “heroically determined”. In his view, the Fringe is no longer the “open access experiment” it was in the 1980s.
The Fringe has never been a curated festival. The absence of selection is central to its identity. That freedom has produced an enormous programme, but it has also created challenges. New audiences can find thousands of shows overwhelming, while many performers play to tiny crowds. High costs for accommodation, venue hire and promotion mean that poor ticket sales can leave artists facing substantial losses. Each August brings fresh stories of performers finishing the festival thousands of pounds out of pocket.
The biggest battle
One response has been the growth of the Free Fringe. Several organisations have used that name over the years, but the largest is PBH’s Free Fringe, founded by Peter Buckley Hill in 1996. As I’ve written elsewhere, it has become a significant part of Edinburgh’s festival landscape, offering audiences the chance to see performances without buying tickets in advance.
The organisation’s biggest challenge is changing perceptions.
“The biggest battle,” says chief executive Luke Meredith, “is convincing people that free isn’t rubbish.”
That assumption persists despite the range of work on offer. Meredith accepts that audiences “might see something terrible”, but points out that “you might see something terrible at a ticketed show too.” The difference, he says, is that a disappointing free show costs nothing beyond your time.
“Things are shaping up in a different way every year”
As the 2026 festival begins, Meredith is optimistic about the Free Fringe’s continued growth. Because many venues are secured late and much of the organisation depends on volunteers, the programme changes from year to year. Free Fringe venues range from established festival fixtures, including the Liquid Room, the Voodoo Rooms and the Banshee Labyrinth, to temporary spaces that appear for a year before disappearing or becoming regular parts of the programme. That constant evolution has often led to imaginative re-use of buildings and introduced audiences to corners of the Old Town they might never otherwise have discovered.
Not every experiment succeeds. Some venues inevitably prove less suitable than others, but the programme evolves through trial and error. In many ways, that process reflects the Fringe’s history. Edinburgh is full of small rooms, church halls, pubs and basements where notable performances took place long before they became part of festival folklore.
Some Free Fringe venues have acquired that status themselves. The Banshee Labyrinth, for example, hosted Richard Gadd’s breakthrough show in 2016, becoming one of those places people later look back on and say, “that’s where it happened.”
Luke Meredith, CEO of the Free Fringe.
An amazing dance piece
With the 2026 Fringe just about to begin, Luke outlines that “things are shaping up in a different way every year. From the huge hitters at Liquid Room this year to the newbies in Pizza Geeks Easter Road.” The organisation has also expanded beyond the city centre.
“We tried to create a bit of a hub in Leith as well with lots of new venues that way, and although the team situation will be a blow to that, we hope people will still make the effort to travel down,” Meredith says, highlighting venues including Bowlers Rest near Leith Links. With a background in performance himself, he is particularly looking forward to seeing dance represented in this year’s programme: “There’s an amazing dance piece in Diggers I want to catch, and with my background I’m just excited to have dance featured on The Free Fringe.”
In the city centre, he points to Supercube on the Cowgate as another example of how the organisation is evolving. “Supercube is another fresh venture that’s expanding the notion of what a fringe show can be with a multitude of intimate rooms under one roof. Great for when you fancy something a bit different in the centre of town.”
Keeping the spirit of experimentation alive
Asked about Stewart Lee’s concerns over the changing nature of the Fringe, Meredith says the Free Fringe is helping preserve the festival’s original purpose: “Yes we are absolutely at the forefront of keeping the spirit of experimentation alive.”
He points to the variety of this year’s programme as evidence.
“This year we have someone writing a new show every day from audience suggestions the day before; a Samurai sword workshop; we have the cult cheese eating show trying something new this year too, so keep your eyes on that.”
Whether or not the wider Fringe has become less accessible, the debate is unlikely to disappear. As costs continue to rise for performers and audiences alike, organisations such as the Free Fringe are increasingly important in preserving one of the festival’s founding principles: that anyone should be able to take part, and anyone should be able to discover something unexpected.
As Meredith puts it: “There’s every kind of show at the free fringe, from top tier established comics to future stars dipping their toes in for the first time. It’s waiting for you and it’s all for free.”
The Free Fringe begins on August 8th. Details of its shows and venues are available at freefringe.org.uk
Also, look out for the Free Fringe’s physical programme, the Wee Blue Book, which will become available at Free Fringe Venues.
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