Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023

USPA NEWS - The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is one of the greatest celebrations of arts and culture on the planet and takes place every August in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city.

04 August 2023, marked the official start of the 76th Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which ran until Monday 28 August 2023. Artists from 72 countries where represented at the Fringe, with 973 shows from Scotland and 469 from Edinburgh itself!
The vision of the Fringe is to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat, and this year the average ticket price was less than £12, allowing audiences to experience a variety of work at a relatively low cost. There where also 439 free shows at this year’s Fringe, and another 614 using the ‘pay what you want’ or ‘pay what you can’ model.  

Following its launch last month, the official EdFringe app had received over 36,000 downloads across the app stores. The ‘nearby now’ functionality on the app encouraged audiences to try something new near them and when they where between shows; with the Shake it Up feature also providing a random show selection to take a chance on.
This year there are 3,535 shows registered, and over 52,000 performances during August. Comedy represents 38% of the programme, with theatre 25%, music 13% and a range of genres completing the mix, including children’s shows, cabaret, circus, dance and musicals.

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “I am overjoyed – absolutely ecstatic! – to welcome everyone to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023! There are so many people who have worked so hard to get to this point, including artists, venues, staff and too many more to mention – I want to say a massive thank you to all of you, and hope you get a chance to enjoy this amazing thing you’ve created over the next three-and-a-bit weeks!

“The Fringe Society exists to support artists come to the Fringe and our team will be within the Fringe Central: Artist Hub throughout August with on the ground help and advice. There is a great programme of events taking place there, to support artists with their future career ambitions. For our Fringe audience, please fully jump into this wonderful festival with a mix of everything on offer, from established names to thousands of first time or emerging performers. I urge you now more than ever, to see shows, and then see even more! Get out there and Fill Yer Boots!”