The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with over 3,000 shows. This year, Playbill will be going to Edinburgh in August for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along this summer as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!

You may think that you need a laird's bank account to see shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. That is not true! Here’s one of the incredible things about Fringe: There’s an entire program of shows that are completely free. And while there’s a lot of shows with tickets that cost £10 or less (which is about $13 or less with the current conversion rate), the number of free Fringe shows is enough to fill a month's itinerary. One way to discover this year’s free Fringe offerings is actually through the official Fringe site and the newly launched official Fringe app! With over 350 free shows on offer this year, you can discover every single one of them easily.

Let’s say you’re on the go in Edinburgh. It’s time to pull out the phone and find a free show via the app! This is how:

Step 1:
Open the Fringe app! If you don’t already have a Fringe account, it’s easy to set one up through the app. You will be able to use the same account for both the app and the website. Once you’re logged in, you will be welcomed with your home screen. In the toolbar along the bottom, select the center magnifying glass to search.

Step 2:
On the next page, you’ll be greeted by the app’s search function. Here you’ll be able to sort quickly via dates, venues, and genres. (If you’re feeling adventurous, you can click the grey “Find a random show” button at the bottom of this page to try out the app’s “Shake to Search” capability!) Click the yellow “Find me shows” button to be taken to the Fringe listings page for all of the festival’s offerings and to reach more advanced filters.

Step 3:
Now on the listings page, you can search for a show, or input any number of the filters already mentioned. But at the top of the page will be grey buttons which read from, left to right, “ANYTIME,” “ALL VENUES,” “ANY GENRE,” and, if you scroll to the right, “FILTERS.” The button to select here first is “FILTERS,” located all the way on the right.

Step 4:
Once you’re on the advanced filters page, scroll to the bottom to the section titled in bold lettering “Special Pricing.” Here there will be a range of ways to get discounted tickets including for preview performances, 2-for-1 deals, and group discounts. Among those options is “Free.” Click the checkbox on the right, and then hit the yellow “Apply filter” bottom at the bottom of the screen. You can add additional filters in this section as well for accessibility needs, age suitability, and genres.

Step 5:
Now that you’ve applied the “Free” filter, the no-cost shows of Fringe are at your fingertips. Here you can scroll through all the possibilities to fill your day and discover the next show for you that’s also friendly to your budget.

Other Fringe-on-a-Budget Tips

When looking to purchase tickets via the “2 for 1” deal, those discounts will often apply to select performances. So how do you know which performances you can get tickets for at a cheaper rate? Well, once a show has captured your interest, click on the yellow “Buy Tickets” at the bottom of your screen within the show’s page. This will take you to a page listing all of its performances. Scrolling side-to-side across the top of the performance page, dates will be marked in different colors corresponding with the deals available on those days. Continuing with the “2 for 1” as an example, those dates will be marked yellow. You will then scroll through the performance times from bottom to top to get to the dates you need to pick a performance to purchase tickets for. Once taken to the ticketing page, the tickets will show as “Full Price” and the subtotal at the bottom will reflect that price. Don't worry, you have not purchased yet! When you click “Add to basket,” you’ll be taken to a page confirming you’ve added the tickets (though not purchased them). Here you will see the discount applied and a subtotal updated to reflect it. From here you can “Continue shopping” or “Go to basket.”

Preview performances are also color-coded in navy. 

Now, you might see listed within the “Special Pricing” options of the advanced filters, “Friends 2 for 1” and "Group Pricing." These will not be marked for certain performances as these offers apply to shows that opt in to offer those specials. "Friends 2 for 1" is a special discount for attendees who decided to opt into the Fringe Friends membership program.

Some shows also offer “Concession Tickets” which you can view on the app by selecting a performance to purchase a ticket to. Priced down, those tickets are valid usually for patrons under the age of 18, registered students, people who are registered for unemployment, disabled patrons, or people over the age of 60 or 65. These tickets require showing valid and appropriate identification, and are useful for members of those groups to save some sterling where possible.

One venue specifically offers particularly low ticket prices: Traverse Theatre. Traverse offers a £1 ticket program for those who sign up for a free Traverse account, and are under the age of 25 or receiving low-income benefits. Find out about the various concession programs that Traverse offers here.

With so many ways to see as much of Edinburgh Fringe as you can, it's left to you to discover all the possibilities. Don't know where to start? Head to Playbill Goes Fringe to check out the recommended shows for the biggest venues of the festival!