Edinburgh Fringe 2021: What's happening this year

Venues detail their 'cautiously optimistic' plans following Nicola Sturgeon's announcement

Yesterday’s announcement about the easing of Scotland’s coronavirus restrictions has been given a cautious welcome by operators of Edinburgh Fringe venues.

Nicola Sturgeon delayed the relaxation of measures until at least July 19 - the same day as Boris Johnson hopes to lift all restrictions in England.

However, the news that date could mean the relaxation of prohibitive two-metre social distancing to a potentially more viable one metre opens up hope for festival events.

And Holyrood’s aim of abolishing all social distancing by August 9, just three days into the Fringe, has sparked more hope.

Yesterday, Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, called the news ‘hugely uplifting’ and said it meant ‘operators can now plan, prepare and start the difficult road to recovery’

Here are what some of the main Fringe players told Chortle about the state of their current plans:

ASSEMBLY

Artistic director  William Burdett-Coutts said: ‘We are delighted that it finally looks like there may be some relaxation of distancing rules for performance and are very much hoping this will be in place on the dates mentioned by the First Minister, as this is essential to bringing back live performances.’

He added that ‘we expect to be able to make an announcement about work for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the near future’.

But Assembly will be staging a hybrid of online and in-person live events at its Roxy venue as part of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival from July 16  to 25. The company is also running a Festival Garden as part of Coventry’s City Of Culture from July 1 through to October.

GILDED BALLOON

Artistic directors Karen and Katy Koren said: ‘We were delighted to hear the First Minister's statement yesterday giving our industry a cautious timeline to recovery.

‘As we'd been planning with two-metre distancing in mind, the announcement doesn't give us quite enough time to make adequate preparations for a full Fringe programme.

‘However, Gilded Balloon will be presenting a small programme of both indoor and outdoor performances which we are very excited about and is set to be announced shortly.’

Yesterday, the venue announced that the final of its long-running competition So You Think You’re Funny will be staged live in Edinburgh – on August 26  - with the semi-finals streamed online.

THE STAND

The comedy club’s managing director Mike Jones said: ‘Our Fringe programme will be very limited this year as we’ve not been able to plan for a "normal" August.’

But he added that ‘we will probably have a limited number of shows at Stand 1’, the company’s year-round venue.

The Stand is also promoting gigs by Mark Nelson gigs at the Corn Exchange during August.

LAUGHING HORSE FREE FESTIVAL

Boss Alex Petty said he was working to get shows into some of the usual Free Festival venues at one-metre distancing for the full run.

‘Certainly our larger rooms that have been scuppered by the two-metre rule up until now should now be able to operate,’ he said.

He added that more than 40 shows have approached him about venues since yesterday’s announcement,  but said that shows are likely to be ticketed this year – at least while social distancing is in place – even for the free/pay what you want model.

He has been operating under similar conditions a the ongoing Brighton Fringe and said: ‘It has worked well in Brighton overall, and shown us how best to work with distancing and operate in a Fringe style set-up’.

‘I’m feeling really positive now about getting a programme together in Edinburgh, with venues and performers waiting in the wings all year for this possibility, one that looked like it just wasn’t going to happen,’ he added.

PBH’s FREE FRINGE

Chief executive Luke Meredith said the announcement ‘has given cautious hope for a live in-person fringe. PBH’s Free Fringe has already had confirmation from some venues and hoping for more, and we’ll be offering slots shortly.’

He urged anyone thinking of bringing a show to the Fringe to apply for a slot via freefringe.org.uk, saying: ‘At the moment it’s a blank slate so if you apply quickly there are still prime evening slots available.’

He added: ‘We don’t yet know what the audience will be like with so many risk factors involved. What we can tell performers thinking of coming to Edinburgh is that the risk can be considerably reduced by joining us and not paying any venue or promoter fees. Also our shows will be in Edinburgh-based businesses who already have tried and tested Covid-safe measures in place.’

But he also expressed concern about the growing number of cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19, saying: ‘Not meaning to put a gloomy note on it but it’s entirely possible that the lifting of restrictions is delayed’ - which would scupper the plans of all venues.

The PBH Free Fringe is also running a virtual programme ‘which could bring a whole new audience’ to shows.

CORN EXCHANGE

Not a normal festival site, but the only venue yet to have announced a Fringe programme, with international promoters Live Nation programming gigs across the whole month, even under two-metre rules.

Jason Byrne, Henning Wehn, Daniel Sloss, Craig Hill, Mark Nelson and Kiri Pritchard-McLean have all announced dates (listings) - with more seats set to become available if social distancing eases.

OTHERS

The Pleasance, Underbelly, Monkey Barrel and Just The Tonic have not yet announced any Fringe plans and have not yet responded to our request for comment.

Even with two-metre distancing, Monkey Barrel is currently running weekend gigs in its central Edinburgh location.

Underbelly is running two festivals in London this summer: One just off Oxford Street, plus the London Wonderground in Earls Court.

The Pleasance is also programming comedy at its London Theatre, while Just The Tonic is organising a number of gigs across the country, including some big outdoor events.

Published: 23 Jun 2021

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