Frequently Asked Questions

Love the Fringe is a pioneering membership initiative run by seven of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's most influential venues: Assembly, C ARTS, Gilded Balloon, Just the Tonic, Pleasance, Underbelly and ZOO.

Designed to enhance accessibility and sustainability at the Fringe, this scheme invites audiences to support the arts while enjoying a range of benefits. With over a million tickets available per week during the festival, Love the Fringe aims to make better use of existing resources while championing fairer opportunities for artists and venues.

To take part in Love the Fringe or to list your show on EdFest.com please contact [email protected].

Benefits for Members

Members of Love the Fringe enjoy a host of exclusive perks designed to enrich their festival experience. These include:

• Access to free tickets
• Exclusive discounts on shows, festival bars and local businesses
• A review digest highlighting the best shows at the fringe
• and much more!

In return for their support, members not only gain more value from their festival visits but also contribute directly to the sustainability of the event.

Benefits for Artists and Venues

The scheme brings tangible benefits to the artists and venues who participate. Revenue generated from memberships provides direct financial support, helping to offset production and operational costs. Participating shows also gain increased visibility through promotional efforts linked to the membership, attracting new audiences. Furthermore, artists and venues are encouraged to make use of unsold tickets by offering them as part of the scheme turning potential losses into opportunities for engagement and income.

The 50/50 Scheme: A Fairer Revenue Model

At the heart of Love the Fringe is a 3-year pilot programme based on a 50/50 profit-sharing model. After operational costs are deducted from membership revenue, the remaining profit is split equally between artists and venues. For example, if £100 in membership sales results in a £70 profit after costs, then £35 is allocated to artists and £35 to venues. This equitable model ensures that even free ticket redemptions contribute value to those who create and host performances, supporting a more sustainable approach to discount ticketing.

The 4% Commitment: How Shows Participate

To be part of the scheme, shows are asked to allocate as little as just 4% of their total ticket inventory to Love the Fringe promotions.

Participating shows also have the flexibility to offer additional deals on EdFest.com, such as 2-for-1 offers or discounted prices. This approach maximises audience reach without significantly impacting potential box office income.

To find out what shows you can redeem your free Love the Fringe tickets with, head to our Offers page and make sure 'Love the Fringe' is toggled in filters. You can also filter for shows by date.

Love the Fringe has five membership tiers starting at just £30.

To discover the benefits and see how you can save this Fringe, check out our Benefits page.

Your digital membership card can be found in your membership confirmation email, available to add directly to your Apple or Google wallet.

Physical membership cards will be available to collect once the Fringe begins, more information will be released on this closer to the time.

EdFest.com offers selected ticket deals across participating Fringe shows, including Love the Fringe tickets, 2-for-1 offers, 20% off, £5 off, £8 off, 50% off, and The Times 20k Giveaway**.

Offers vary by show, performance date and availability. Use the filters on the Offers page to find the type of deal you are looking for.

Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable but may be transferred to another person. To transfer your ticket, log in to your account and visit the 'My Tickets' section. Transfers must be completed at least 24 hours before the event.

See our Terms & Conditions for more

EdFest is a gathering of eight of the core venues that present a world-class programme of shows as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe;  Assembly, C ARTS, Gilded Balloon, Just the Tonic, Pleasance, Underbelly and ZOO.

This collaboration was initiated in 2022 after the impact of the Covid pandemic that created a two-year hiatus for the Festival. 2020 was cancelled. And in 2021, most of the EdFest venues operated at about ten percent of what they did pre-pandemic. The endeavour behind working together is to collaborate on all the complexities of rebuilding this incredible event and at the heart of it is our commitment to programming world-class shows and creating wonderful experiences for audiences.

Edfest.com brings together all the EdFest shows under our collective banner and makes it easy for customers to buy tickets for any of the seven venues in one basket. There is a search function that helps you find what you want to see when. Show pages containing information from the venues and presenting companies.

EdFest.com offers a fairer, smarter booking platform for the Fringe community, bringing together shows from major participating venues in one place.

For audiences, EdFest makes it easier to discover, plan and book more of the Fringe, with booking fees capped at £5 per transaction. Other platforms can charge up to £9 per transaction, so EdFest helps keep booking costs lower while still offering a simple cross-venue basket.

Customers can also choose optional ticket protection through XCover at checkout, giving them extra reassurance if they are unable to attend.

For artists, producers and venues, EdFest is designed to increase visibility, support direct sales and give companies more control over how their shows are promoted. Shows that take part in Love the Fringe qualify for 0% EdFest commission on ticket sales through EdFest.com, provided they allocate a minimum of 4% of their ticket inventory to the scheme.

Through EdFest, companies can claim and improve their show listings, add additional content, create ticket offers, manage Love the Fringe allocations through their Red61 reporting site and drive audiences directly to their EdFest listing.

By prioritising affordability, visibility and creative control, EdFest.com helps make the Fringe easier to book, easier to promote and more rewarding for everyone involved.

EdFest.com has had a makeover! Moving to our new website means that users who had EdFest accounts in previous years will need to re-register with EdFest. Once you have an account with the new website, your previous information will integrate with your new account (given they are using the same email).

Love the Fringe memberships are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. 

For more information see our Terms & Conditions.