By Grace Hatchell

My satchel barely gets a chance to recover from Edinburgh before there’s another reason to start thinking about going back. Welcome to the Fringe Palestine will return in 2027, and its open call for Palestinian artists is now live.

Palestinian artists living anywhere in the world are invited to apply, with the festival welcoming all forms of small-scale live performance. That leaves room for rather a lot of imagination, which is precisely what you want at the Fringe. Edinburgh already supplies the hills, the unpredictable weather and the annual test of how many flyers one woman can carry.

The initiative brings Palestinian artists to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to share their work, celebrate Palestinian art and culture, and present their voices freely and without censorship.

It also offers support beyond the performances themselves, helping participating artists meet audiences, see other shows, make professional contacts, find friends and enjoy the city.

That last bit matters. A festival should offer artists a chance to be part of something, as well as somewhere to unpack their props.

Festival Producer Sara Shaarawi says the team was struck by the number, quality and variety of submissions for the 2025 edition. The return in 2027 will create another opportunity to share Palestinian voices and narratives, with the organisers looking forward to discovering work being made around the world.

And the previous festival certainly managed to fit plenty in.

In 2025, Welcome to the Fringe Palestine presented 20 events over four days at Portobello Town Hall, involving 35 artists and arts workers from Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora. Some 1,600 tickets were issued.

Twenty events in four days. You’d want a carefully marked programme and a sandwich in your bag for that. Take it from a postie: enthusiasm gets you started, but provisions keep you moving.

The festival received four-star reviews from The Scotsman and The Wee Review, featured on Al Jazeera news, earned a Creative Edinburgh award nomination in the Festivals category, and placed seventh in The List’s Top 100 of 2025.

Founded by playwright David Greig in 2015 and revived by Scotland-based independent artists and producers in 2025, the initiative is now being produced with Independent Arts Projects and Workers Theatre Co-operative.

Mhari Robinson, Executive Director of Independent Arts Projects, describes supporting the 2025 festival as a thrilling experience. With IAP taking a leading role as co-producers for 2027, she says the project brings communities together to support Palestinian artists at a time when they are being silenced.

There’s substantial work ahead, including fundraising, finding a suitable venue and recruiting volunteers and hosts. Anyone who’s ever organised a village hall event will recognise that list, although the Fringe does tend to turn the difficulty dial up a few notches.

For artists thinking of applying, the call welcomes small-scale live performance across different forms. Visual art and film submissions are eligible where they include a live performance element.

Palestinian artists based anywhere in the world can apply. Artists involved in previous editions are welcome to put work forward again, although priority will go to those the festival has not previously programmed or worked with.

The application window runs from 14 October to 9 December 2026, with all applicants due to receive a decision by February 2027.

Which means there’s time to consider a submission, but I wouldn’t leave it until December’s got its slippers on. One minute you’re saying there’s weeks yet; the next you’re trying to finish an application beside a tin of festive shortbread.

Independent Arts Projects works with artists and performance makers to develop, produce and tour work across Scotland, with a focus on creating opportunities for people who can be isolated or excluded from mainstream arts experiences.

That commitment sits at the heart of this festival: making room for artists, their work and the audiences who want to encounter it.

The 2027 programme is still to come. For now, the invitation is open—and somewhere out there could be a performance we’ll be talking about on the way home from Edinburgh.

Full eligibility details and application information are available through the Welcome to the Fringe Palestine 2027 open call.