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Welcome to the Fringe

Welcome to the Free Fringe Festival!

The Free Festival will be back in Edinburgh in 2025, from July 31st to August 24th

Performers applications will open in late December - click here for the 2024 performers information which will update in December.

In 2024, our 20th anniversary year, we had a bumper packed programme for you. You can check out all of the shows we had while waiting for our 2025 programme, which will launch in early June 2025!

WE DO HAVE ONE 2025 PWYC FRINGE SHOW ON SALE ALREADY: click here to find out more about the very first Fringe show confirmed for 2025, The long awaited return of JOKE THIEVES to the Fringe and The Free Festival.

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It was a big celebration In 2024!

The Free Festival was back with a bang for 2024, with a new and huge programme of art, entertainment and laughter which came to you from venues around Edinburgh.

And it was a very special year for us in 2024, as it was our 20th Anniversary year at the Fringe!

Laughing Horse Free Festival is one of the biggest comedy producers at the Fringe - and don't forget we also have cabaret, theatre, music, children's shows and more.

In 2024 we had nearly 7,500 performances of 370 shows across our venues, raging from the very best in new talent through to big name shows. Just what a Fringe should be!

Would you like Free Fest shows in YOUR venue?

If you have a venue in central Edinburgh, and would like to host Fringe shows we are always looking for extra venues for future years - click here to find out more about all of the benefits of hosting shows.

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Best in Free: Best of the Fringe

With award winners and nominees, over many years we've had critically acclaimed Fringes, alongside a bucket-load of four and five-star reviewed shows.

This means our shows are free and also some of the best of the Fringe - while we allow performers and audiences experience the freedom to experience the Fringe, with a chance to experiment and enjoy, just without the huge costs.

'Free & Unticketed' and 'Pay What you Can' shows - how show entry works

Our shows are either 'Free & Unticketed' or 'Pay What You Can' depending on how the performers have chosen to run their shows. This is how it works:

Free & Unticketed: Entry to a show is first-come, first served at the venue - just turn up and then donate to the show in the collection at the end.

Pay What You Can: For these shows you can book a ticket to guarantee entry and choose your price from the Fringe Box Office, up to 30 mins before a show. After that all remaining space is free at the venue on a first-come, first-served bases. Donations for walk-ins at the end of the show.

As always 100% of the ticket price or donations for each shows goes directly to the performer, which helps them benefit as much as possible from what audiences can give to them, after a tough couple of years for performers and show producers.

Free Fringe Festival shows in Edinburgh
We have nearly 7,500 Performances of 370 Shows in August 2024

And now we are pulling out all the stops for our big 20th Anniverary year! We look forward to making it this year even more special than usual!

Running the Free Festival costs a lot of Money

Some of this money is recouped through sponsorship & advertising. If you would like to contribute and help keep these venues free for performers and audiences click here