Young Fringe Performers

• You will arrange an introductory meeting in person or online with a member of staff from Canongate Youth before the first session.
• You will prepare and deliver eight weekly sessions on Fridays from 14:00 – 16:00 between 03 July and 21 August and deliver the final performance on the Fringe Community Stage on 28 August. 
• You will be supported by staff from Canongate Youth and/or the Fringe Society in each session.
• We'll be in touch with you to discuss any access requirements you might have; we’re aiming to make this process as flexible as possible to ensure you can deliver your project in the way that works best for everyone involved.
• You’ll deliver all sessions with the group in person.
• You’ll be working with 6–10 young people aged 14–18 years old.
• The project will culminate in a short performance on the Fringe Community Stage 2025. The details of the style and content of this performance will be decided between you, the Canongate Youth staff and the group members during the sessions.
• We’re aiming for this to be co-creative and collaborative, so the content, themes and ideas used in your creative process should stem from those of the young people. These should arise within a structured format that will be developed after and throughout the meetings with the young people and staff. 
• The final performance must be family friendly and appropriate for the Community Stage in August.
• You will attend a reflection and feedback session with staff members from Canongate Youth and the Fringe Society, either online or in person, and contribute to the project evaluation and documentation.

The successful applicant will:

• live within travelling distance of Edinburgh 
• have experience / interest in performing arts for teenagers and young adult audiences, and in working with young people as collaborators
• have lived experience or a knowledge of / interest in the issues facing young people today
• be flexible, compassionate and thoughtful in planning and delivery when it comes to any access needs of the group
• be willing and able to strike a balance between flexibility in co-creative work with young people and a structured, scaffolded approach to delivery
• possess an up-to-date PVG background check or be willing to apply for one (the Fringe Society can cover the cost of this)
• have previously been an artist or participant of a Fringe show in some capacity, or be involved with a registered show for Fringe 2026
• be sympathetic with the values of the Fringe Society and Canongate Youth.

'Since 1977, Canongate Youth has supported children and young people with safe, welcoming spaces to be themselves, build skills, have fun and find support.

'We offer clubs, one-to-one and group support, outdoor play, and holiday activities.

'Our mission: to help every young person flourish by building relationships, boosting wellbeing, nurturing aspirations and creating opportunities to thrive.

'In this project, we gather a group of young artists and advocates to co-create a new show for the Fringe’s Community Stage. Their voices and opinions at the centre, their art journey supported by a professional artist – what could be better?'

This project will include:

• an initial chat, either in person or by phone, with a staff member from Canongate Youth to touch base 
• an initial meeting, either in person or by phone, with the project manager from the Fringe Society 
• one session per week for seven weeks between Friday 03 July and Friday 21 August 2026, from 14:00 – 16:00 each Friday in an Edinburgh location (TBC) 
• a reflection and feedback session with staff members from Canongate Youth and the Fringe Society, either online or in person, and contribution to the project evaluation and documentation.

• Total fee of £2,250 (inclusive of all delivery, planning and expenses).
• Additional support is available for access requirements.
• You will be given an additional budget for production costs (exact amount TBC).

Application deadline: 09:00 BST on Wednesday 01 April 2026.

After the application deadline, we will consult with Canongate Youth to select an artist based on what works best for their members.

We will create a shortlist of artists who will then be invited to run a ‘taster’ hour-long workshop. Based on these experiences, the group will then decide which applicant they would like to work with on the project. Selected applicants will be paid for these sessions. The date for this will be a Friday afternoon in April, with exact dates to be confirmed after the application deadline.

We aim to let all applicants know the outcome by Friday 01 May 2026. Please let us know if you would like written feedback. 

The dates of the project delivery are Friday afternoons from 03 July until 28 August 2026.

Additional budget is available if you have any access requirements for meetings and / or for the project itself, including providing BSL translators. Please email [email protected] to discuss this.

• If you would like to apply in writing, please send us a covering letter (one or two pages of A4).
• If you would like to apply by film or voice recording, please send us a link to your recording via email (no more than three minutes). If you use BSL, you can record your film in BSL.

All applications

Please include the following information in all applications:

1. Artist name.
2. A bit about yourself and your practice.
3. Why you are interested in the role.
4. Number of Fringes in which you have creatively participated in total.
5. Name and year of your most recent Fringe show.
6. Your relevant experience and / or your artistic practice.
7. Main contact phone number.
8. Main contact email address.
9. Where you are based in Scotland.

Please email your application to [email protected] with ‘Fringe Young Performers artist application’ as the email subject.

Please do not send us any CVs or any other additional documents.

Application deadline: 09:00 BST on Wednesday 01 April 2026.

We are particularly interested in hearing from artists who have an ethnically diverse background, identify as under-represented in the arts, or are neurodivergent, D/deaf or disabled.

We are open to having conversations with the selected artists about their access requirements to participate in all aspects of the project.