Edinburgh Festival Fringe: What does it really cost performers to put on a show?

More than 3200 shows already registered for this August

It is the cultural celebration that is open to all yet has a reputation for being increasingly difficult to take part in.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe may be notoriously expensive for artists and performers, but all the evidence suggests that the demand to enter the fray in August is as high as ever.

A month ahead of the official programme launch, the number of shows on sale – 3,237 – has already outstripped the final tally in the 2023 brochure, which featured more than 45,000 performances across 248 venues.

All the signs are that this year’s Fringe will be at least the second biggest in history in terms of the number of productions staged.

But what is the financial reality faced by performers trying to make a name for themselves in the city this summer – and is it still possible to put on a show at this late stage?

The short answer to the last question is yes. Although the deadline for the printed brochure has passed, if you can find a venue you can register with the Fringe Society next month and start selling tickets.

The first question is rather more complex.

Street performers on the Royal Mile at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture Scott Campbell/Getty Images

The official “Putting On A Show” guide from the Fringe Society, the arts charity which oversees the festival and runs many of its key services, makes it clear to would-be participants that “your expenses will be greater than your revenue.”

The potential expenses listed on the Fringe website is a stark reminder that companies face having to pay as much as £10,000 a week simply to secure a slot in a venue, and use its staff and equipment.

The Fringe Society has suggested that a 150-capacity play from a Scottish-based company with 12 performers would cost an average of around £25,000, with an international dance or physical theatre show in a 60-capacity venue coming in at around £19,000.

However homing in on the cheapest possible option of staging a week-long run of a comedy show in a pub brings the potential cost down to just £1,000, according to the Fringe Society.

Edinburgh's Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

This is largely down to the various – and increasingly popular - “free” or “pay what you want” models for attracting audiences.

There are many venues where performers can put on shows without actually having to pay a free, although last-minute acts can still have their shows listed on the official festival app and website by paying the Fringe Society’s “summer rate” of £295.20.

One of the biggest – and most controversial – costs faced by Fringe acts is undoubtedly accommodation. With an estimated 25,000 bed nights needed for each night of the peak festivals period in August, competition is understandably fierce.

The Fringe Society recommends performers start looking for accommodation, as well as drawing up budgets and scoping out venues, as early as November.

Street entertainers perform on Edinburgh's Royal Mile during the 2023 Fringe.

However there are still plenty of options available for artists and audiences who are still to make their minds up.

There were almost 100 hotels with availability on Booking.com, as well as more than 220 apartments, for an eight-night stay at the start of the festival.

The cheapest of the latter, for a studio flat on Iona Street, off Leith, was for just over £1200, which works out £150 a night. This was around £400 cheaper than a week-long stay in student accommodation on Sugarhouse Close, off the Royal Mile.

At the other end of the scale, it was still possible to stay in the luxury apartments at the Edinburgh Grand on St Andrew Square as long as your accommodation budget stretches to £5,601.

A "large queen studio” Residence Inn by Marriott apartment at Quartermile, the new home of the book festival and close to the Fringe action in George Square, will set you back £3,817.

To my surprise, I discovered it was possible to stay in Edinburgh’s newest luxury hotel during the Fringe, although the price tag for an eight-day stay in a “king room” at the W Edinburgh is £4,481.

Street entertainers perform on Edinburgh's Royal Mile during the city's Festival Fringe in 2023. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Its rate is put in context by what is being charged by other hotels, including £4,074 for a standard room at the Radisson Blu on the Royal Mile, £3,953 for a double room at the Market Street Hotel and £4,705 for a “director double room” at The Scotsman Hotel.

Looking further afield, to Glasgow, the cheapest hotel I could find, just off Sauchiehall Street, worked out at £99 a night, while the Holiday Inn next to the Buchanan Bus Station was £1,163 for eight nights. The cheapest accommodation, for just £320, was available in a 10-bed dorm at the Safestay hostel in Charing Cross, a five-minute train ride away from Queen Street Station.

Back in Edinburgh, the Safestay hostel on the Cowgate offered the best deal on Booking.com although the handy location just off the Royal Mile was probably reflected in the higher price of £467.

The Fringe Society has urged Edinburgh-based supporters of the festival to consider letting out a spare room to Fringe participants via the website Theatre Digs Booker, although none of those listed were available for the first week in August.

However the Fringe Society insists that the most affordable option for artists is to book up student accommodation via the dedicated portal on its website. Hundreds of rooms with rates capped at no more than £300 have been made available by Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh and Queen Margaret universities, with the latter playing host to an official “festival village” for the first time this August.