GETTING STARTED>>

Performing at the Edinburgh Festival is a fantastic experience. Nowhere else in the world do so many exciting cultural events occur in the same place at the same time, and to be part of that – as a producer, performer, stage manager, technician, musician or artist – can be incredibly fulfilling, both personally and professionally.

When most people talk about performing at the Edinburgh Festival, they are generally referring to performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. There are five other Festivals taking place in the Scottish capital during August, but they are all programmed and the people who perform only do so by invitation. The Fringe, however, has no central programming body and as such anyone who can find the cash and a performance space is eligible to perform.

There are a number of reasons people perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. At this point we should stress that no-one, repeat NO-ONE, performs at the Fringe to make money. In fact most people lose money when they produce an Edinburgh show. But there are numerous other reasons for producing at Edinburgh, even when financial losses are involved:

• Many people perform at Edinburgh because there are hundreds of journalists and promoters in town during the Festival and they hope by performing at the Fringe they will build a body of reviews and perhaps get noticed by important agents or producers.

• Many people perform at Edinburgh because there is a core Festival audience keen to discover new plays and new stars, and therefore the Fringe is an ideal place to showcase new performers, or new plays. Bigger performers look at Edinburgh as a place to showcase new work they then hope to tour elsewhere.

• Many people perform at Edinburgh just for the experience of it all – to be part of a Festival so diverse and so exciting. They hope peers from their industry will come and sample their work, and in turn they use their time in town to sample other people’s work.

• Many people perform at Edinburgh just for the fun of it, or because it has become part of their year, providing a structure that forces them to identify, develop and perform new shows according to a fixed schedule.

For whatever reason you have decided to perform at the Festival, here in the ThreeWeeks Guide To Staging A Show At The Edinburgh Fringe we will talk you through the basics – what you need to do, when you need to do it, what you need to think about and what you should prepare yourself for.

The content is based on the experience of a number of Festival producers who have been staging shows at the Edinburgh Festival for several years. It is not exhaustive, and over time things will change, but it should cover all the basics you need to know.