Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s biggest arts festival, but this year one topic kept cropping up in conversations with audiences and performers alike: accommodation prices. The rising cost of staying in the city has shaped how people experience the Fringe. Many audiences are pushed to the outskirts, meaning late-night shows in the city centre lose potential crowds. For some, the price of a bed in August makes more than a few days at the festival simply impossible.
And that has a knock-on effect. If accommodation were more affordable, audiences could stay longer, see more shows, and — most importantly — spread ticket sales across a wider range of productions. Instead, with tighter budgets, people are forced to make tough choices.
That’s a shame, because 2025 has been full of outstanding work. Some shows will be runaway successes — the sort that already have future tours or transfers lined up. Others, perhaps smaller in scale, hold the beating heart of the Fringe: bold, raw, and independent voices who’ve put everything into bringing their vision here.
When I say “independent theatre,” I mean performers and makers who might be solo artists, or small teams banding together to create something spectacular on limited means. They are the lifeblood of the festival. That said, the bigger shows — the ones with PR agencies, lighting operators, sound engineers — have their rightful place too. The Fringe is for everyone, from the shoestring debut to the fully staged production.
But here’s the reality: with the cost of living as it is, audiences are more selective. They choose carefully where their money goes, and that’s where Theatre Village comes in. We don’t just review shows — we curate them. We select what we see with care, while leaving space in our diary for those wildcards that could become the surprise gems of the festival.
This balance — between championing independence, recognising the scale of bigger productions, and keeping space for the unexpected — is what makes the Fringe so alive. It’s also what keeps Theatre Village committed: not just writing stars on a page, but guiding audiences toward the shows that deserve to be seen, whether they’re on a main stage or tucked away in a back room.
Because the Fringe, at its heart, is still about discovery.
