The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with nearly 3,500 shows. This year, Playbill is in Edinburgh for the entire month in August for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!

It’s not easy to bring a show to the world’s largest arts festival. There are plenty of obstacles facing artists at Edinburgh Festival Fringe from exorbitant accommodation costs to funding productions in the first place. Every show at the Fringe is self-funded by the artists involved. But The Fringe Society, which helps facilitate the festival and guides its artists, is doing what it can to change that. Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge currently serves as the society’s president, and has created a new initiative called the Keep It Fringe Fund which is allocating £100,000 to Fringe artists.

It's a step towards trying to increase accessibility and inclusivity at the festival by giving 50 artists and companies £2,000 each to help offset the costs and risks of bringing a show to the 2023 Fringe. The funds are provided by the Fleabag for Charity fund, The Fringe Society’s partner Edinburgh Gin, and individual donors.

There were 677 applications, which were reviewed by a diverse, external group of 23 individuals (among them Fringe First winner Apphia Campbell who returns with Black Is The Color of My Voice this year). This year’s recipients of the funding awards were selected for how their shows “capture the defiant spirit of the Fringe, and can take advantage of the festival as a unique platform to tell untold stories at all stages of their career.” Qualifications including confirmed registration in this year’s festival, applying as or on behalf of a U.K.-based performer, and presenting a live show in-person.

“The number of applications received for the Keep it Fringe Fund reflects the current economic climate, and a need for significant support for artists coming to the Fringe,” said The Fringe Society’s CEO Shona McCarthy. “The festival continues to be one of the most important cultural events in the world, and a platform for artists to gather, network, and meet with industry partners as they explore future career possibilities.”

In addition to the £2,000, the recipients are being given more support by TikTok, which has donated £50,000 worth of advertising credits for the recipients to use in boosting their content to reach their audiences at the Fringe and beyond. To help with offsetting travel costs, Lumo (an electric rail provider and sustainable rail network) is donating 50 tickets connecting Edinburgh with any of their U.K. hubs to fund recipients.

This is the pilot year for Waller-Bridge’s initiative. As McCarthy further said, “We are immensely grateful for Phoebe’s generous donation to this new fund, and would welcome conversations with partners, donors, and organizations who would be open to supporting the development of this important initiative in the future. Our thanks to all the assessors who took the time to review hundreds of applications, and to TikTok and Lumo for their kind support package for the recipients.”

The Fringe Society has acknowledged that this program won’t make or break a show’s ability to come to the festival; but rather, it hopes to ease the burden, and help to push the festival to become a more inclusive celebration of the arts. It is one step of many to be taken. 

Want to see which shows are being funded by the Keep It Fringe Fund that you can go see right now? See the list below.

• Abby Vicky-Russell
• Alex Gibbon
• Alistair Hall
• BBD Productions
• Ben Macpherson
• Ben Target
• Best in Class CIC
• Brigitte Aphrodite
• Bristol Performance Movement
• c21 Theatre Company Limited
• Cerys Bradley
• Clementine Bogg-Hargroves
• Down the Lens
• Edith Alibec
• Elisabeth Gunawan / Saksi Bisou
• Ella Lovelady
• Emerge Production House
• Fiona Ridgewell
• Flat & the Curves
• Gara in association with Jess Donn
• Hey Thanks! Theatre Company
• Jaimee Aislyn de Witt
• Joe Leather
• Journey to the East Productions
• KlangHaus
• Lachlan Werner
• Lee Kyle
• MarianaMalena Theatre Company
• Martin Mor Comedy
• Matt Hutchinson
• Max Percy + Friends
• Moon Loaf
• Mr Brake Down
• Mwansa Phiri/Visual Sauce
• Olly Gully
• Peyvand Sadeghian
• Prentice Productions with Kit Sinclair
• Rachel E. Thorn
• Ready Cett Productions
• Riss Obolensky and Eloise Poulton
• RoguePlay Theatre
• Sian Davies
• Simona Vrabcova
• Slade Wolfe Enterprises Limited
• Social Convention
• StammerMouth
• Stephen John Catling
• Suhaila Suhaimi
• The Thelmas WMC
• Tom Mayhew