Arts diary: Gouda news for the Fringe and when is an Edinburgh festival not an Edinburgh festival?

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has announced Cheez-Its as its “official snack partner” and Fringe boss Tony Lankester has not lost any time in making the most of it.

“I was tempted to make my own cheesy jokes here – you wouldn’t brie-lieve it, gouda on them, that sort of thing – but on second thoughts I think I’ll leave that to the professionals,” quipped Lankester.

The brand, which has already raised £10,000 for the 2026 Keep it Fringe fund, is to sponsor a new award: the Cheeziest Joke of the Fringe. Comedians will be invited to submit their joke to be reviewed by a panel of comedy experts and the top five qualifying jokes will be put to a public vote at the start of the Fringe, with the winner receiving a cash prize of £1,000.

Feta get going on those jokes, then, that’s a grate prize.

When is the Edinburgh Fringe not the Edinburgh Fringe?

When is the Edinburgh Fringe not the Edinburgh Fringe? When it starts to become nothing more than a pre-London run.

It’s that time of year when the festival event invitations start coming. The Edinburgh International Book Festival’s programme is due to be announced at a press event next month, the Fringe Society has its own launch party not long before.

One which appeared in my inbox this week, however, inviting me to an event announcing the line-up for a high profile Fringe venue, was not in Edinburgh. It was not even in Scotland.

“We're thrilled to invite you to the Shedinburgh Programme Launch Breakfast,” the invitation said.

“As well as giving you an exclusive run-down of our 2026 season, we'll be announcing the winners of the Shedload-Of-Future Fund, our financial award for the most exciting early-career companies bringing work to the Fringe for the first time.”

The location of this Fringe-focused event? The Young Vic Theatre in London.

Shedinburgh, run by top Fringe producer Francesca Moody, who was behind the stage versions of Baby Reindeer and Fleabag, was piloted as a virtual venue during the pandemic before becoming a physical "shed" in Edinburgh last August. It aims to flip the traditional Fringe model by paying artists to perform and also, through the Shedload-of-Future fund, supports early-career artists through a bursary scheme. Previously housed in the Edinburgh College of Art, it is to relocate to Assembly Checkpoint this year.

Announcing the move last month, it also revealed plans to showcase some of the 70+ performers from Edinburgh at a post-festival run at the Young Vic in September, featuring just over half of the Edinburgh shows.

Now, there’s always a bit of an internal battle at the Fringe between locals and incomers. While some of the big name venues are run by Edinburgh-based teams - Gilded Balloon bosses Katy and Karen Koren an obvious example - many others have roots in Edinburgh, but are run by organisations based outside of Scotland. Some, such as Underbelly, also operate their own programme of events in the UK capital, while remaining fairly Fringe-focused.

Obviously, some lucky performers are spotted at the Fringe to go on to wider success in London and across the world, which is one of the festival's major draws.

Yet the decision to actually launch the venue’s Edinburgh-based Fringe line-up in London - despite Shedinburgh’s Edinburgh programme being far larger and longer than its English counterpart - sends an interesting message about how the festival is perceived.

Sorry Shedinburgh, the pastries and coffee sound nice, but I’m not sure I’ll be travelling 400 miles for them.