Throughout August in Edinburgh, the Fringe Society is fully focused on supporting one of the world’s greatest celebrations of arts and culture – the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Meanwhile, in one corner of the Old Town, unaffected by the nearby festivities, our new Fringe Central at 6 Infirmary Street has continued to take shape – with accessibility at its core.
Background: access challenges at our current premises
For 11 months of the year, the Fringe Society is spread over three offices on and around the Royal Mile: our Fringe Shop, Box Office and main office is at 180 High Street, while two further offices are located down the nearby Fishmarket Close and Barries Close. For August, we also set up a temporary participants’ hub, Fringe Central – this has moved several times in recent years, most recently in the Grassmarket Community Project for Fringe 2024 and 2025.
Given the historical nature of our year-round buildings, it’s unfortunate but not surprising that they aren’t especially accessible. While there is level access to the Fringe Shop, this does not extend to the back office; our other two offices both have stairs at the point of entry. This creates additional barriers, both for staff and when we’re working to engage with the various members of the Fringe community, particularly those who already face challenges in navigating the festival.
All of which is to say that, when plans for our new home began to develop, we knew accessibility had to be a priority.
Accessibility at 6 Infirmary Street
The Victorian schoolhouse we’ll be moving into early next year is not without its own accessibility issues, but we’re addressing these now, at the renovation stage, before we move. We want to ensure that, when the doors open, they open for everyone.
- The most significant addition to the building is the installation of a lift, giving people with limited mobility access to the mezzanine and first floor.
- We’re ensuring there will be level access to all public spaces in the building.
- We’re refurbishing the current access ramp and installing pushpad doors on the main entrance.
- On the ground floor we’ll have a Changing Places toilet, complete with an adult-sized changing bench and hoist for people who are unable to use a standard accessible toilet. The toilet will be open to the public, meeting a much-needed requirement in the Old Town.
- We’re installing seating in the foyer (which is being generously supported by the Foyle Foundation).
- We're also doing some work on the visual noise in the space to make it more inclusive of neurodivergent people, using colour coding and reduced signage to make the spaces more easily navigable – for example, all the toilet doors will be the same colour.
All this work is being carried out with the utmost respect for the history and aesthetic of both the building and the surrounding area.
You can be part of the new Fringe Central
We’re delighted to have the support of DCMS and other partners in funding this project, though there is still a lot more we want to accomplish – find out how you can support the new Fringe Central:
