Fringe Central gives world’s largest arts event a forever home at heart of the festival

The workmen busy putting the finishing touches to the accessible entrance and the piles of Fringe programmes waiting to go out will seem familiar, but for the people who work full-time with the Fringe Society this year will be very different.

While the last 78 editions of the Fringe Festival have seen its organisers setting up shop in hastily erected pop-ups around the city - all affectionately dubbed ‘Fringe Central’ - this year they have been unpacking their belongings into a new, permanent home.

The building on Infirmary Street, in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, will be a welcoming and open space for Fringe artists, Edinburgh’s residents and partner community groups all year round.

The historic B-listed Victorian schoolhouse has been well-used over the years by local community groups, adult education classes and Canongate Youth.

Built in 1885, the building was facing an uncertain future, with Edinburgh City Council reports saying essential repair costs would be up to £2m. For the Fringe Society it was a perfect opportunity to realise a long-held dream.

The Fringe Society offers year-round support and services to Fringe artists, including advice on connecting with industry, support creating press materials and guidance around managing and improving ticket sales or resolving any problems with their show. All of these services will be available in person at the Fringe Central.

And they are hoping the lovingly refurbished Victorian former schoolhouse on Infirmary Street will over time become an oasis at the centre of the storm for performers and artists.

“This has been on the cards for a long time, and it was actually part of a blueprint plan back in 2018,” said Chris, Head of Artist Services at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.

“We work year round and so we wanted a year-round space where we could properly support local artists and performers. Before this we were spread over three buildings and we had the Fringe hubs that we would put up in August wherever we could find the most suitable space, but operationally it was far from ideal.

“For the last few years we had a space in the Grassmarket that was, I thought, very close to what we wanted - a really great location right in the heart of the festival. And now with Fringe Central I think we have that same feeling. We are so close to some of the biggest venues, and in the heart of the city.”

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society was founded by artists to uphold the inclusivity, experimentation and imagination of the event, and ensure it remains an open access festival that accommodates anyone with a desire to perform and a venue willing to host them.

Its three main objectives are to provide support, advice and encouragement to all participants, help audiences navigate what’s on offer and to celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world.

The permanent Fringe Central has been designed with these core principles in mind. The new home of the Fringe is a warren-like space, offering surprises round every corner. From the central foyer where the new home of the Fringe will be officially unveiled to performers and the press, to the winding corridors of the building that lead to rehearsal rooms, recording spaces and the warm and welcoming relaxation space, it feels like the perfect home for the fringe.

The £7m refurbishment has been backed with funding support from the UK Government via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, The Foyle Foundation, SP Energy Networks Transmission Net Zero Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, and Changing Places Toilets Scotland Fund.

And the Fringe Society has also expressed their thanks to the City of Edinburgh Council for supporting this project with the signing of a 99-year lease for the building.

“It feels like a much more welcoming, warm space now. It’s so much more space than we have had for years, and I’m hoping it will become a bit of an oasis.”

As well as much-needed rehearsal spaces there will be spaces too where performers can get often vital welfare support from local mental health charity Health in Mind during what can be some of the most challenging days of their lives.

“The Fringe can be hard and for performers who have come with dreams of success it can be really demoralising to play to small audiences, so to know there is a place where you can talk to somebody not just about how your show is doing or how to sell tickets but to check in on how you are doing as a person is really important,” said Chris. “And now we have that, with a permanent space for one-to-one meetings.”

While it is definitely NOT a venue - at least not yet - there is, of course, a programme of events on at Fringe Central this year for artists and industry.

Geared around helping performers, it includes welcoming coffee mornings, Meet the Media events, Q&A sessions with agents, TV and film industry professionals, as well as community days and Doors Open days when performers and professionals can come in for a tour of the new building.

The new home will also play a key role in helping performers meet key industry players. From Monty Python to Baby Reindeer, Stephen Fry to Phoebe Waller Bridge, the Fringe has been a starting point for some of the UK’s biggest cultural creators.

As such it attracts a huge array of industry professionals who are all looking to find talented performers and unique shows for their own events, whether it’s festival organisers, theatre owners or TV producers.

The new central hub will be a melting pot where performers can both get advice on pitching to industry, and where industry can meet the performers.

“It gives us a proper space to help creators and performers meet industry professionals,” Chris said.

“We get thousands of industry professionals here every year and a large part of our job is putting them together with performers.”

There is still plenty of work to be done, with rooms piled up with boxes still to be unpacked, furnishings still to be brought in and a community garden planned for outside the building, bringing some much needed green-space to the area.

For now though all eyes are firmly focused on the launch date, and Chris is certain their new home will be ready.

“We’re used to this, and while it would obviously have been great to get in earlier, this being the first year things would always have been a bit scrappy as we get used to the space,” he said.

“This isn’t just a space for a month, and that is the whole point of it - this is somewhere that will support local performers and creators year-round.”