Laughing Horse Festivals has announced its 2017 Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival line-up. There are 392 shows spread across 37 performance spaces in 23 venues - its largest ever programme.

There will be 8,014 performances from July 30th to August 27th, with the first four days being the pre-Fringe Children’s Festival, followed by the full run of shows from August 3rd.

This year the Free Festival welcomes back the refurbished Counting House and Pear Tree venues. New venues joining the roster this year include The Mockingbird, Cuckoos’ Nest, Southpour, Golf Tavern and a new pop-up venue Victoria Street Coffee Co.

Highlights include:

·         Scottish comedian Janey Godley returns.

·         Vladimir McTavish makes his free show debut with his new daily Fringe chat show 

·         Star of BBC3's impractical Jokers Paul McCaffrey returns to the Free Festival

·         Cult comic Joey Page returns to the Counting House after producing a paid show there last year

·         Festival favourite Lewis Schaffer reads an unopened letter sent by his mother before she died 

·         Hit show MMORPG also return to the Counting House after premiering there last year as a paid show

·         Canadian comedian Mae Martin returns with two shows at the City Cafe

·         A new late night Spanish holiday party, that’s part cabaret, part comedy and part immersive experience

·         The UK debut of blind Indian Comedian Sundeep Rao, and fellow world touring Indian comedian Papa CJ’s new solo show

·         The final Malcolm Hardee Awards show returns to its traditional home at the Counting House

·         Puppet Fiction, Pulp fiction with marionettes returns, this time with the help of a giant movie screen 

·         Desperately Seeking the Exit writer Peter Michael Marino returns with a new Improvised Theatre show

·         More top level comedy from Sean McLouchlin, Tom Toal, Ahir Shah, Stephen Carlin, Christian Schulte-Loh, Grainne Maguire, Olaf Falafel, Martin Mor, Jojo Smith, Matt Price, John Hastings, Ashley Storrie, Ivor Dembina, Russell Hicks, Milo McCabe and many more.

The Free Festival, which started in 2004, is directed by Alex Petty and managed by Laughing Horse Festivals. Not to be confused with PBH's Free Fringe, which also puts on free shows in Edinburgh.

The full programme is available now online at: www.freefestival.co.uk