Commercial partnerships
The Fringe Society is the charity behind the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; an open access, non-programmed festival which is exceeded only by the World Cup and Olympic Games in terms of global ticketed events.
We were established by artists to nurture and uphold the Fringe's values of inclusivity, experimentation and imagination; we exist to support, advise and encourage everyone who wants to participate, provide information and assistance to audiences, and celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world. We manage the central box office, produce the official Fringe programme, run several community initiatives to encourage involvement in the arts and run Fringe Central, the hub for Fringe artists in August. Every penny we receive goes back in to supporting Fringe artists and making sure the Fringe remains as open and accessible as possible.
The Fringe Society has a long history of partnership working and, as a registered charity, we rely on the support of corporate partners to deliver many of our initiatives. Our partners benefit from genuine association with the single biggest celebration of arts and culture on the planet, and a range of opportunities tailored to match key business objectives.
We can create bespoke sponsorship packages and partnerships that allow your brand to align with the biggest arts festival in the world and create meaningful connections with new audiences.
Sponsorship benefits
- Brand association with the greatest celebration of arts and culture on the planet.
- Raised awareness – there were over 2.2mn tickets issued for the 2022 Fringe. That’s almost as much as the FIFA World Cup (and we happen every year!).
- Global reach – audiences from over 130 countries attended the Fringe in 2022, with artists from over 60 countries performing.
- Being part of our mission to break down barriers for artists and audiences who want to perform or visit the Fringe.
Sponsorship opportunities
- Web, email bulletin and social media – from June to August 2022 our website received over 36mn page views, from 2.5mn users. Our audience and artist mailing lists reach a combined 160k subscribers, and we have 190k Twitter, 196k Facebook and 98k Instagram followers.
- The Fringe programme – 175k copies will be printed and distributed in 2023.
- Outdoor advertising – get your brand noticed in iconic locations across Edinburgh.
- Activations – create a unique pop-up activation to showcase your products and services to the extensive Fringe audience.
- Experiential – give your clients or staff a taste of the Fringe.
- PR – benefit from the association with the Festival Fringe and work with our team to create a meaningful and impactful partnership.
- Charitable support – utilise CSR budgets and help us break down barriers to participating in and attending the Fringe.
Find out more
We’d love to hear about your organisation and how we could work together. Tell us about your objectives, intended audience and timeline and we can tailor a sponsorship package specifically for you. Please contact us on [email protected].
Corporate Friends
We want to build long-term connections with local businesses that show strong sustainability and fair work commitments. The support we get from our Corporate Friends helps our charitable work with performers and audiences attending the Fringe, such as mental health support, accessibility improvements and career opportunities for artists.
Becoming a Corporate Friend means that you are part of the collective dedicated to improving and celebrating the Fringe.
Find out more about becoming a Corporate Friend
Advertise with us
Advertising with the Fringe offers businesses the opportunity to reach a huge, diverse and culturally aware audience.
Find out more about advertising with us as a business or advertising as a Fringe performer.
Artist discounts
The Fringe Central programme – aimed at and distributed to all registered Fringe artists – also features a selection of discounts and offers from Edinburgh businesses available exclusively to them during the Fringe.
The selection of available discounts and offers is vetted by the Artist Services team according to the criteria outlined below.
For general guidance, the discounts or offers must:
- Be deemed to be of genuine value and usefulness to Fringe artists during August.
- Be unique and only obtainable by registered artists showing their Fringe pass.
- Represent a monetary or percentage discount.
- Be available to all Fringe artists, including those without a UK bank account.
If you would like to receive more information about the discount scheme, please email [email protected] to register interest.
Trusts and foundations
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe welcomes the opportunity to build new partnerships with trusts, foundations and public funders from all over the world.
Together, we can improve support for artists, access and community engagement to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat. We deliver a wide range of activities that focus on mental health, developing emerging artists, measuring impact and helping young people and marginalised groups engage with performing arts.
For details on how your trust or foundation can make a difference, please contact our Development team on [email protected] or call +44 (0)131 226 0036.