Edinburgh Festival Fringe on track for one of its biggest line-ups as 1373 new shows go on sale

Nearly 1700 shows are now on sale for the event - around the same number as there were by mid-April in 2019, which was the biggest Fringe to date.

Organisers have revealed that 1373 new shows have been added to the festival's line-up in the last six weeks.

More than 300 additional shows are now on sale compared to this time last year.This is despite the absence this August of one of the Fringe’s best-known venues, Teviot Row House - which has been used for Gilded Balloon shows for more than 20 years - for a major refurbishment programme, while The Stand has pulled out of its biggest venue, on George Street.

Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Fringe Society, urged would-be festival-goers to start buying tickets as soon as possible to support artists and companies who have committed to come to the event this August.

Just over 3550 shows ended up being registered for the 2023 Fringe - the second biggest programme in the event’s history in terms of individual productions.

The 2023 Fringe attracted an overall attendance of 2.44 million – which was the fifth highest attendance recorded at the event.

However Ms McCarthy warned that the Fringe is under “existential threat” due to the rising costs faced by artists, companies and venues, including the price and availability of accommodation in Edinburgh in August.

An official Fringe Society report for the Scottish Parliament, which was published in January, warned that the festival was at “serious risk” of losing its world-leading position unless action was taken to ensure the event was affordable for artists and audiences in future.

The dossier for MSPs also suggested that Edinburgh’s status as a “Festival City”, which dates back to the launch of the International Festival and Fringe in 1947, was “looking diminished” due to a lack of public funding.

However the Fringe Society has revealed that 157 venues are now selling tickets, more than three months before its official Fringe programme is launched.

The level of interest in appearing in this year’s festival has emerged after the Fringe Society announced that the UK Government had agreed a £1m deal to help support hundreds of acts to appear at the event.

The backing will allow the arts charity to extend a “Keep It Fringe” fund launched last year by its president, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for another two years. Artists and companies from across the UK will be able to apply for a bursary of £2,500 to help meet the cost of coming to the Fringe after the Government agreed to “reallocate” £1m from the £7m it announced last year for a project to create a new “headquarters” for the festival in the city’s Old Town.

Many of the Fringe's biggest venue operators have now unveiled new shows, although Summerhall and the Traverse are among those keeping their line-ups under wraps.

Ms McCarthy said: “It’s super exciting when a new batch of shows gets announced – you can really feel the momentum gathering as August gets closer and closer.

"I can’t wait to get stuck in and add some more shows to my favourites list – and to book a few in, just in case they sell out.”

“Artists are the backbone of this festival and they’re at the heart of everything we do at the Fringe Society.

"Booking tickets in advance, adding free and unticketed shows to your favourites list, giving shout-outs to artists and companies on social media using our #UnleashYourFringe hashtag – these are things that Fringe audiences can do to show some essential early support and boost morale for the artists they love.

"So if your fave is coming to Edinburgh or if a show tackles an issue that’s close to your heart, get it locked in now.”

Gilded Balloon’s line-up includes a debut stand-up show from SNP MP which reflect on her experiences after almost a decade in the House of Commons and 44 days of Liz Truss, an acapella musical comedy based on her short-lived tenure as Prime Minister.

Also part of Gilded Balloon’s programme are Pals, a new “adventure comedy" following four young women on a camping trip in the west coast of Scotland, and New York sketch group I Mostly Blame Myself.

Assembly’s programme includes Mary, Queen of Rock, a new rock musical inspired by Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen, a play based on the journals, letters and diaries of Queen Victoria.

Other Assembly shows include An Evening Without Kate Bush and These Are the Contents of My Head (The Annie Lennox Show), which will pay tribute to the back catalogue of the musical superstars, and Fringe comebacks from Adam Hills and Dara Ó Briain.

Rose Matafeo, star of the hit TV comedy series Starstruck, will be making a Fringe comeback in August as part of the Pleasance line-up, along with fellow Edinburgh Comedy Award winners Jordan Brookes and Ahir Shah, while Fringe favourites Paul Merton and Suki Webster will launch a new improv show.

The Pleasance theatre line-up will include Sell Me: I Am From North Korea, Sora Baek's solo show inspired by the true stories of North Korean defectors.

Political commentator, presenter and author Darren McGarvey will be launching a new show, Trauma Industrial Complex, at the Stand Comedy Club.

Its programme will also see comic Ralph Brown launch a new show based on the dramatic incident that unfolded at the Fringe last year when an audience member appeared to be brandishing a firearm.

Musical acts appearing at the Fringe this year include Scottish singer-songwriter, who will be appearing at the Voodoo Rooms and American singer Dean Friedman, who will be part of the line-up of events at the luxury hotel Prestonfield. The rooftop terrace at the Virgin hotel in the Old Town will play host to a play paying tribute to the Edinburgh artist John Kay.