The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has launched its 2016 programme.
2016 will see 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows from 48 countries in 294 venues across Edinburgh.
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: “It is an honour to be launching the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme.The breadth and diversity of talent that comes to the Fringe is unparalleled, and this year is no exception. At its core the Fringe is an open access festival, which welcomes anyone with a story to tell, and for that reason, amateur and professional artists from around the world continue year after year to come here to share their stories, hone their skills, create new opportunities for themselves and their work, and celebrate the joy of live performance.”
VENUES
In 2016 new venues include some of Edinburgh’s best known landmarks, unusual venues and popular pubs. Gilded Balloon partners with the National Museum of Scotland for the first time. The Museum has won numerous awards since the completion of extensive redevelopment work in 2011 and will play host to a mix of comedy, theatre and children’s shows. C venues open C scala at St Stephen’s Church in Stockbridge, creating four performance spaces including a 450 capacity theatre in the gorgeous Grade-A Georgian listed building. Assembly Rooms will this year play host to the inaugural Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival, a celebration of the intersection of new technology and arts entertainment, offering audiences the chance to experience enhanced performance, storytelling and film through VR, games, digital theatre, event cinema and live to digital events and performances.
Several Edinburgh hostelries will make their debuts as venues this year. Heroes @ Dragonfly will see the popular Dragonfly cocktail bar in Edinburgh’s West Port transformed into a comedy venue, operating the same pay-what-you-want model favoured by Heroes’ other venues. PBH’s Free Fringe will host shows in three new Cowgate venues, Latin American bar and club Sabor, beer and burger joint T-Bar, and live music venue Stramash. The Jinglin’ Geordie, named after the famous Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist George Heriot, returns as Pleasance Pop-Up: The Pub, a performance space for Not Too Tame’s immersive theatre piece Early Doors (p.303), and George Heriot’s School – founded by Jinglin’ Geordie in 1628, is the new home of the BBC this year.
If you are looking to escape the city centre, new and familiar venues can be found in the south of the city. In addition to its permanent spaces, Summerhall will host Aurora Nova productions at Summerhall @ The King’s Hall and the popular pop-up venue Roundabout @ Summerhall also returns. Zoo Southside features one of the largest stages on the Fringe as well as intimate cabaret bar and studio, The Queen’s Hall is home to a programme of concerts featuring some of the top names from Scotland’s folk and traditional music scene, while C venues – C south offers a varied programme of theatre and family-friendly shows in and around the grounds of St Peter’s church. Laughing Horse offers a mix of music, comedy and theatre shows at two revamped and renamed venues, Laughing Horse @ Southside Social and Laughing Horse @ Crags Bar.
FAMOUS NAMES
Familiar names from the world of comedy return to the Fringe in 2016. Rory Bremner will host seven performances at the National Museum of Scotland (Gilded Balloon) featuring hand-picked, special guests for a mix of stand-up sets and conversation. Limmy brings a selection of tales from his Sunday Times bestselling book Daft Wee Stories to Venue 150 at EICC. Elsewhere, Omid Djalili, Katy Brand, David O’Doherty, Shappi Khorsandi, Phil Kay and Lucy Porter return to Edinburgh with new material.
Impressionist Alistair McGowan celebrates his 12th consecutive year at the Fringe, while Angus Deayton, Helen Atkinson Wood, Michael Fenton Stevens and Philip Pope reunite to bring classic scripts from award-winning BBC Radio 4 show Radio Active back to the show’s original birthplace. Richard Wilson revives one of the UK’s best-loved TV characters, One Foot in the Grave’s cantankerous protagonist Victor Meldrew, for a special one man show at Assembly, and from the USA, actress and comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub, best known for playing Chloe O’Brian in Fox network’s 24, makes her Fringe debut with her reflective stand-up show 24 hours with Mary Lynn Rajskub.
BBC AT THE FRINGE
The BBC, broadcasting from their new base at George Heriot’s School, will present a programme of highlights and daily live performances across radio, TV and online, capturing the festival’s most exciting new talent, biggest names, hidden gems and Fringe stories. The semi-finals and final of the BBC Radio New Comedy Award (Radio 4) will take place in Edinburgh for the first time this year. BBC Radio 4 favourites Loose Ends, Front Row, and Just a Minute return to the Fringe, while two editions of BBC Radio 2’s Saturday morning show will be broadcast from Edinburgh with special guest host Al Murray. Steve Wright in the Afternoon (Radio 2) and The Janice Forsyth Show (BBC Scotland) will broadcast their shows live, while BBC Two’s Artsnight takes on its Edinburgh Nights mantle for a series of shows which will be recorded across the city.
TICKETING
From 8 June tickets will be available for collection from the Fringe Box Office, 180 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1QS and from the University Visitor Centre, 2 Charles Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AD. From 01 August, for the third year running, there will be a collection point in Domestic Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. There are over 20 collection points throughout the city open during the Fringe. For a list, and for more information please go to edfringe.com.
Fringe facts 2016
Comedy makes up 34% (compared to 34% last year)
Theatre makes up 27% (compared to 27% last year)
Music makes up 15% (compared to 14% last year)
Musicals and Opera makes up 4% (compared to 3% last year)
Children’s Shows make up 5% (compared to 5% last year)
Dance, Circus and Physical Theatre makes up 3% (compared to 4% last year)
Events make up 4% (compared to 4% last year)
Cabaret and Variety makes up 4% (compared to 4% last year)
Spoken Word makes up 3% (compared to 4% last year)
Exhibitions make up 1% (compared to 2% last year)
There are 643 free shows, 164 pay what you want shows, 1,731 premieres and 48 different countries represented.
The 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from 05 – 29 August.
Box Office here. Telephone: +44 (0)131 226 0000
