UK Government agrees £1m deal to support hundreds of Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows

Artists and companies will be apply to apply for £2,500 bursaries

Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

The UK Government is to support hundreds of artists and performers to appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Ministers have agreed to award £1 million to a new "Keep It Fringe" fund launched last year by Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

The funding will help 360 artists or companies to meet the cost of taking a show to the Fringe in 2024 and 2025.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge won a Scotsman Fringe First Award for her show Fleabag in 2013. Picture: Esme Allen

They will be able to secure bursaries of £2,500 - an increase of £500 from a pilot last year, which was only able to support 50 companies or artists.

Fringe acts who are supported via the fund – which is intended to “nurture the next generation of British artists” – will be able to use the bursary for any costs involved in putting on their show.

The new funding will be open to any UK-based performers or companies who register for the 77-year-old event this year or next.

The Fringe Society has unveiled the backing after revealing it had been turned down for support twice in the space of a month by the Scottish Government's own arts agency.

The South Bridge Resource Centre, near the Pleasance Courtyard and Assembly Roxy venues, is earmarked for a new headquarters for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.

The UK Government said its investment - which has been announced as hundreds of festival shows go on sale - would "improve the Fringe’s accessibility for performers and allow more artists to realise their ambitions at the festival."

Waller-Bridge, who agreed to become the first president of the Fringe Society three years ago to help champion the event, has praised the UK Government's decision to support the Keep It Fringe initiative, saying she felt as if the sun had “come out from behind a cloud.”

The Government has agreed to “reallocate” £1m from the £7m investment which was previously pledged to the Fringe Society last spring to help create a year-round headquarters in the city centre.

The building project took a major step forward last month when the city council agreed a long lease for the Fringe Society to take over a community centre near the Pleasance Courtyard and Assembly Roxy venues for its new hub, where its Fringe Central services would be run from each August.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge launched the Keep It Fringe fund last year.

An official council report warned there was a risk that the promised investment from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which was believed to be ringfenced for a revamp of the South Bridge Resource Centre, could be lost if a decision was delayed.

However the Fringe Society, which submitted a final business case for the building project to the DCMS in January, has been in extended talks to try to secure permission to use some of its promised £7m for the Keep It Fringe fund.

Backed by Waller-Bridge's own Fleabag For Charity fund, the pilot year attracted applications from 677 artists and companies.

Waller-Bridge first came to prominence in 2013 when she brought the original stage version of her comedy Fleabag to Edinburgh and won a Scotsman Fringe First Award. A TV adaptation went on to win BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy awards.

Assembly Festival George Square. Assembly is one of the biggest venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: William Burdett-Coutts

When Waller-Bridge was appointed president of the Fringe Society she pledged that she would be “proud to be a part of the fight with the Fringe Society for its much needed survival and glorious return.”

Launching the Keep It Fringe fund was launched last year, Waller-Bridge said it was aimed at helping “the creatives of tomorrow and contribute to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to take their work to this amazing festival.”

The Fringe Society said the new rounds of the fund would be targeted towards acts and companies who do not currently have a high profile and face barriers to participation in the arts.

It will be ringfencing £100,000 to pay for the administration of the fund, offering dedicated support and advice to the chosen artists and companies before and during the festival, and bringing in freelance external specialists to help identify the shows and acts that demonstrate “the greatest need and the boldest ideas.”

Waller-Bridge said today: “All artists need is financial support and to otherwise be left alone to come up with whatever they are compelled to say.

"To have the Government support this fund is to feel the sun come out from behind a cloud.

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

"Thank you to the Fringe Society for endlessly campaigning for artists and thank you to those in Government for recognising the cultural importance of the Fringe and the artistic freedom that defines it.”

Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy said: “We’re absolutely delighted to announce the continuation of the Keep It Fringe fund thanks to generous support from the UK Government.

"With a vision to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat, we recognise that for many, the financial challenges of putting on a show can prevent some artists from coming to the festival.

"This funding will enable the Fringe to be more accessible than ever to artists from across the UK and will level the playing field for many.

“In a time of uncertainty for the cultural sector, this funding has allowed the Fringe Society to establish an artist fund for the next two years, and for that we give our sincere thanks to the UK Government.”

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “The Fringe has launched the careers of countless comedians, writers and actors, giving emerging talent a golden opportunity to showcase their work to new audiences at the largest arts festival in the world.

"In order to protect this talent pipeline and nurture the next generation of British artists, we want to ensure performers can afford to stage shows at the Fringe."

The Fringe Society has not disclosed the estimated cost of turning the South Bridge Resource Centre, which has been run as Fringe venue by Greenside in recent years, into its new headquarters. However the council report suggested it was also raising money from private trusts, foundations and donors.

A spokeswoman for the Fringe Society said: “Now that the council has approved a long lease of the building, we’re moving into a phase of the project where a full detailed cost analysis is being undertaken prior to procurement and renovation work.

“Funding from the UK Government will not cover the full and final cost of the planned work, and, in securing the Keep It Fringe fund, we’re committed to the further fundraising required, scoping for which is in progress and will be announced shortly. This will likely be through grant applications and a wider fundraising campaign.

“It is too early to say when we anticipate the new hub opening, but we’re hopeful that Fringe Central will operate from there in 2025."

Val Walker, culture convenor at the city council, said: "“I’m delighted to hear the news that the Keep It Fringe fund is set to be expanded with these UK Government resources.

"Of course, financial pressures are significant for all festival participants, so this substantial contribution towards alleviating this for as many UK-based artists as possible is very much to be welcomed.

“The Fringe Society’s management of these resources supporting UK independent artists’ participation in such an exciting festival helps to ensure the continuing extraordinary mix of performances enjoyed by so many in August.”