The Festival Fringe Society

The key feature of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is that it is an open-access arts event. This means that no single individual or committee determines who can or cannot perform on the Fringe. It was in this spirit that the festival itself began in 1947; in 1958, the Festival Fringe Society (FFS) was formed to provide key information, a central box office and a published programme of all the Fringe shows. In 1969, the Society was incorporated as a limited company and its constitution was published.

Central to this constitution is that there shall be no artistic vetting from any individual such as an artistic director. The Fringe Society has a board of trustees who oversee the core Fringe staff in their year-round work, and who make sure that everything is in place to produce the world’s biggest explosion of culture every August.

The FFS is currently made up of some 200 members. If you are interested in becoming a member of the FFS please email admin@edfringe.com.

Members have a responsibility each year to elect the trustees and adopt the annual accounts. These duties are fulfilled annually at the Fringe Society AGM.

In 2009, the Fringe Society board announced that it would be conducting a review of their constitution, which has not been updated since its inauguration in 1969. You can find more information on this project and contribute your opinions to the review process here.