News

Rewards include limited-edition Christmas baubles and goodies from alumni

We've just launched our Fringemas Fundraiser: a new Crowdfunder campaign which aims to raise £25,000 to support our work as a charity.

Following on from a very difficult year, in which the festival was unable to go ahead as planned, we're aiming to raise £25,000 to help support the work of the Fringe Society.

The Fringe Society is a charity that exists to support everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe. We’re currently raising vital funds to allow us to help bring back the festival in 2021, to provide information and assistance to audiences, and to help us keep connecting young people in Edinburgh with the arts.

Raffle prizes in the crowdfunder include:

• a limited-edition Hamilton poster signed by creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who performed at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Assembly with his rap improv group Freestyle Love Supreme
• a signed book from comedian and author Adam Kay, who sold out his run at the Playhouse in 2019
• a signed CD from Fringe stalwart and musician Camille O’Sullivan, who enjoyed a hugely successful run at Pleasance in 2019 and has been returning to the festival since 2004
• a signed book from comedian and fellow Playhouse alumni Joe Lycett
• a script signed by performer Richard Gadd, whose Fringe First-winning Baby Reindeer appeared at Summerhall. Gadd also won an Edinburgh Comedy Award for his hit show, Monkey See Monkey Do at The Banshee Labyrinth. 

In addition to the selection of alumni goodies on offer, supporters can donate in return for a trio of Fringe Christmas baubles.

To find out more about the fundraiser, and to donate, please visit crowdfunder.co.uk/fringemas-fundraiser.

How the funds will be used to support our work

The impact of the Fringe not taking place in 2020 has been enormous. Thousands of artists, venues and creatives rely on this important festival every year, and at the Fringe Society, we’ve been doing everything we can to help ensure the Fringe survives, stabilises and strengthens.

Funds raised via this crowdfunding campaign will go to the Fringe Society, the charity that underpins the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, so that we can continue working towards our charitable objectives.

• Connecting young people in Edinburgh with the arts has been at the core of our work for decades, and we’ve kept this going in 2020, with workshops in schools to develop creativity skills in learners and encourage participation in the arts.
• We've also continued working with local community groups, ensuring the arts are available to those who might normally face barriers to taking part.

We are committed to creating a more accessible and inspirational Fringe in order to foster a lifelong passion for the arts among Scotland’s young people and communities, and champion creative learning in our schools and colleges.

• Buying a set of three Fringe baubles could pay for a Fringe play pack for a classroom.
• Donating £100 could pay for a class to receive a workshop from a Fringe artist.
• Donating £250 could help support an artist to work within some of the many communities we work with across the city.

Donate now via our Fringemas Fundraiser

About the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is a charity that was established by artists to act as the custodian of the Fringe. We exist to support and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe; to provide information and assistance to audiences; and to promote the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world. Based on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Society has a full-time team of just over 30 people, who work year-round to assist all the artists and audiences who make up the world’s greatest arts festival.