Tough times ahead as Edinburgh Fringe launches 2024 programme

Shona McCarthy says the Fringe Society and venues have been working together to mitigate against the squeeze on accommodation caused by a change to short-term let legislation.

Gail Porter and Jason Manford were among the performers who said they’d been unable to secure affordable spaces.

“Everywhere I go, people approach me to tell me how prohibitive the cost of accommodation in Edinburgh is. It remains a massive issue and the fact that people have found a way round it is not accidental,” Shona says.

“There’s been a huge effort with every single venue, all having to find new and innovative ways to address this problem of both affordable and available accommodation.”

“The fundamental principle of the Fringe is to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat. It makes it increasingly difficult if the very basic cost of accommodation is a barrier.”

For the first time the Fringe will run a “festival campus” offering accommodation at Queen Margaret University on the eastern outskirts of the city, where rooms are capped at £269.50 a week.

The Fringe Society say they’re gathering data which they will submit to the Scottish government for review after this year’s festival. What they don’t know is how that will impact on audiences, or the length of time anyone stays at the festival.

“Ironically, it was one of the things which made the Fringe sustainable. You weren’t encouraging people to travel for short term stays. They were here for three or four weeks contributing to the wider economy of Edinburgh and Scotland.”

Three nights of concerts by Taylor Swift have just taken place in Edinburgh. Shona says the impact they’ve had on the city is a sharper, shorter version of what the Fringe brings in August.

But the Frinde doesn’t get the same level of support or preparation.

“If we were a peripatetic event which happened in different parts of the world and Scotland was bidding to host, it would come with a package of millions. Resources, joined up infrastructure and a sense of celebration.” she says.