Exclusive:Revealed: Edinburgh Festival Fringe to get Scottish Government funding package after 7-year battle

The Fringe has not received core funding since 2018

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is to receive a funding package from the Scottish Government after a seven-year battle with the arts festival’s outgoing chief executive.

The £300,000 package will enable work in two areas agreed between the Scottish Government and the Fringe Society. These are to develop the capabilities of the society’s data and digital infrastructure to make the Fringe more accessible for artists, audiences and venues, and to help Scottish artists and the sector as a whole capitalise on international opportunities.

Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Fringe Society, who is stepping down after nine years in the role at the end of this month, has been at loggerheads with the Government over support for the festival, which is the biggest of its kind in the world. The Fringe has not received core funding since 2018, despite repeated applications.

In a recent interview, Ms McCarthy said the Fringe should be given same status as international sporting events such as the Olympics or Commonwealth Games and called for the Government to step in.

Meanwhile, last year, leaked letters revealed a war of words between Ms McCarthy and Iain Munro, chief executive of Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government's arts agency, after the latter described the running of the Fringe Society as “particularly precarious”.

Earlier, Ms McCarthy had warned that a lack of funding was making the Fringe, which has been valued at more than £200 million to the economy, "almost impossible” to deliver.

Festival performers.

In response to the new funding announcement, Ms McCarthy said: “We welcome this new funding and thank the Scottish Government for recognising the unique position that the Fringe Society has. This will undoubtedly contribute greatly to Scotland’s economy, society and culture sector and we hope that this is a first step towards long-term funding for the Fringe Society.

“It is vital that the Fringe Society can continue to provide much needed core services to the thousands of artists who come to the festival every year and who recognise it as a global marketplace and expo. A sustainable Fringe Society can use its convening role to unlock support for the wider Fringe from the imminent visitor levy.”

Ms McCarthy added: “We look forward to working with [Deputy First Minister] Kate Forbes and the Scottish Government on developing a long-term sustainable funding model, and welcome this investment into both digital infrastructure and international opportunities.”

Although the Fringe has not secured Scottish Government core funding in recent years, it has been given support from other areas. Holyrood provided the organisation with a £1 million loan during the Covid pandemic. The society was also given £500,000 annually to run the Made in Scotland showcase, which supports Scottish artists and companies to perform at the festival.

Meanwhile, in 2023, the Fringe Society won £7m in investment from the UK government. That funding is being used to develop a new permanent base for the organisation on Infirmary Street in Edinburgh’s Old Town. The 140-year-old building, once refurbished, will provide support, marketing and box office services and is also expected to offer year-round rehearsal spaces for artists and organisations.

The UK government later agreed to reallocate £1m of the funding it had pledged to allow the Fringe Society to expand an artists’ support fund, which was launched by Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for another two years. The resulting funding gap for the Infirmary Street development was earlier this year plugged by additional funds from the Foyle Foundation and SP Energy Networks.

Ms Forbes said: “The Fringe is one of Scotland’s signature events. From humble beginnings in 1947, it has grown to become the world’s largest performing arts festival, making it a significant economic contributor to Edinburgh, and Scotland as a whole.

“This agreement recognises firstly that the Fringe Society does not neatly fit into the funding streams available to other culture organisations. Secondly, that there is ample opportunity for the Fringe Society to work more closely with all the other organisations who play an important role in making the Fringe the annual success that it is.”

The minister added: “The Scottish Government is committed to working with the Fringe Society and all partners who deliver, it to help safeguard the future of the Edinburgh Fringe as a world-leading cultural asset, built on the principle of free access for all.”