Edinburgh Festival Fringe

On the Royal Mile in August, performers hand out flyers and give a taste of their show to passers-by, and venues all over the Old Town have shows starting every hour.

The Fringe began in 1947, when eight theatre groups turned up in Edinburgh without being invited to the first International Festival, and performed anyway. In 2025 that meant 3,893 shows and 53,942 performances in 301 venues, and more than 2.6 million tickets sold. The four big operators, Assembly, Gilded Balloon, the Pleasance and Underbelly, run many of the larger venues, and the Free Fringe, started by the comedian Peter Buckley Hill, puts on shows where you pay what you want at the end.

The 2027 Fringe runs from 6 to 30 August 2027. The official programme comes out ahead of that, and tickets are sold through the Fringe Box Office, which has a shop on the Royal Mile. Many people book a few well-reviewed shows, and then pick the rest by walking past a venue and reading the poster.

How to go: Edinburgh has an airport and fast trains from London, and our five-day Edinburgh guide covers the city. August is the most expensive month for rooms, and hotel prices can triple, so book early and consider staying a few miles out. The Edinburgh International Festival and the Military Tattoo run in the same weeks, which is why the whole city is full.