The Fringe Society operates two complimentary (or ‘comp’) ticketing services:
- one for media professionals (such as journalists, reviewers and critics) who have accredited with the Fringe Society’s Media Office
- one for approved arts industry professionals (such as programmers, promoters, agents and talent scouts) who have accredited with the Arts Industry Office.
The service allows each group to see a broader range of work at the Fringe.
Complimentary ticketing can be a fantastic tool for getting the right people to see your show, and many Fringe artists used it as part of a wider strategy of engagement with industry professionals. That said, each ticket offered as complimentary is a ticket not sold, which comes at a cost to your box office earnings, so it is important to factor it into your budget predictions and a keep close track throughout the festival.
How to sign up
You can opt into the complimentary ticketing service with the Media and Arts Industry Office during show registration. We recommend that you allocate two tickets per performance to the service – you can change this at a later date if required. These tickets will not be ring-fenced from general audiences.
Media ticketing
The media ticketing service is available only to reviewers accredited with our Media Office, ie those who go to see work and then publish a review of it.
If you opt in to be part of media ticketing, accredited journalists will be able to book tickets directly via a digital platform without further approval from anyone involved with the show. However, you will receive information of which media members are attending which performance of your show.
Some venues manage their own media ticketing, and these include Assembly, Acoustic Music Centre, C Venues, Dance Base, Gilded Balloon, Just the Tonic, Monkey Barrel, Paradise Green, Underbelly, Scottish Storytelling Centre, the Stand, Summerhall, Traverse, Venue 150 at the EICC and Zoo. If in doubt, check with your venue.
Arts industry ticketing
The arts industry comp ticketing service is available to accredited industry who have a proven track record of offering significant opportunities to Fringe artists. When you opt in to this service, you will be asked to name a designated contact who will receive the industry comp ticketing requests by email and be responsible for either approving or declining them. This role is called ‘the Arts Approver’.
If you prefer, you can assign this role to the Fringe Society’s Arts Industry team. All you need to do is to enter ‘[email protected]’ in the relevant field when registering your show.
We’ll send more information about comp ticketing to the Arts Approver in late spring.
The comp ticket request service for Fringe 2026 opens for accredited industry on 04 June.
Comp ticketing advice
- Create a realistic budget for comp tickets. Remember, there is no such thing as a free ticket. If you are relying on box office income to pay yourself, your artists or other costs, create room in your budget for complimentary tickets right from the start; otherwise it may come as a shock when these are deducted from your box office income.
- Be clear on your objectives. Know why you’re coming to the Fringe and stick to it. Do not feel that you need to give a complimentary ticket to every person that requests it. Instead, prioritise giving comp tickets to people that will help you progress towards your goals.
- Keep track of comp requests in real time to stay on top of your income target, paying particular attention to multiple requests from the same person / organisation. You may want to start a spreadsheet!
- Be prepared to decline a comp request and / or ask people to pay for their tickets. This can be an awkward thing to ask, especially if you are a solo artist or self-producing and don’t have a team of people to check things with. Have some pre-prepared lines that you’re ready to adapt and use depending on the situation. This could be when someone gets in touch with you directly looking for a comp and you have to politely ask them to buy a ticket, or you getting in touch with someone to invite them to the show and asking them to pay for a ticket if they can do so. These scenarios could go something like this:
- Thank you for your interest in our show. We would really love for you to attend and experience it for yourself, however we do not have the budget to offer any complimentary tickets at the moment. Would you be willing to buy a ticket? Here is a link to our listing on edfringe.com…
- We would love for you to experience the show for yourself, as we think it [would be a great fit for your venue / has themes you’ve reviewed in the past / insert reason for invite here]. If you have the resource to buy a ticket, you can do so here [insert link]; if not and you’re interested in seeing the show anyway, please let us know.
- What is your venue’s stance on comp ticketing? Each venue operates differently and so has its own unique policy and processes around how they deal with (or don’t arrange) comp ticket requests for shows in their spaces. Make sure you know your venue’s practices before heading into your show run; this will help you avoid later stresses and maintain a good working relationship with your venue.
Please note, a complimentary industry ticket does not automatically mean there’ll be a direct outcome for you or the show, such as a touring opportunity. This why it is important to be mindful of how many tickets you give out. A good rule of thumb is to follow up with anyone who has received a comp ticket – meet them for a coffee during the festival, or a call once the festival has wrapped up.
If you have any questions around complimentary ticketing at the Fringe, get in touch on [email protected].
