Please note: this blueprint set out the Fringe Society's goals for 2017–2022. Please see the Fringe development goals for our updated plans.
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves through creativity and experience the thrill of live performance.
No matter who you are or where you come from, everyone is welcome on the Fringe. No individual or committee determines who can or cannot appear. You, the audience, curate your own festival.
It all began in 1947 with eight companies taking a risk, turning up uninvited and performing on the ‘fringe’ of the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival.
Over 70 years later, the Fringe has grown to become the greatest platform for creative freedom in the world. It is at the centre of a global movement of over 200 fringe festivals, each following in Edinburgh’s footsteps.
Taking inspiration from the original eight, the Fringe Society – a charity established by artists to nurture and uphold the Fringe's values of inclusivity, experimentation and imagination – is making eight firm commitments that together make up the Fringe Blueprint, a statement of intent that will inform everything we do between now and our 75th anniversary in 2022.
Much like the Fringe itself, we can’t achieve any of this on our own. It will require a huge collective effort – from participants, audience members, government, councillors, businesses, partners and funders – but together we can make the world’s greatest platform for creative freedom even more accessible, affordable, connected and relevant than ever before.
So here's to the original eight. Here's to the uninvited.
Further information
If you’ve been inspired by any of the ideas in this Blueprint and think you can help the Fringe Society achieve any or all of our eight commitments, we would love to hear from you.
For more information, email [email protected], or call +44 (0)131 226 0026.