By Grace Hatchell, still in Edinburgh.
1,730 more shows have been added to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, taking the number currently on sale to 2,083 and opening up an enormous second wave of comedy, theatre, cabaret, children’s work, music, dance, spoken word and musicals ahead of August.
I’ll tell you what, I opened this announcement expecting a sensible little update and nearly got flattened by it.
Because 1,730 is not a gentle nudge, is it? That is not the Fringe politely clearing its throat and slipping a few more flyers under your door. That is the Fringe kicking the door open, upending half of Edinburgh onto the landing and expecting the rest of us to behave like we’re not already halfway through colour-coding our diaries.
And the wicked thing is, once you start rummaging through this latest batch, it is not just big. It is all over the place in the most gloriously Fringe way possible.
One minute you are looking at cabaret and variety and thinking, “Oh lovely, perhaps a tasteful song or two,” and the next you are staring at Robot Vacuum Fight Club, a Scottish Moulin Rouge, a sci-fi cabaret fronted by a cat who used to be an anti-woke podcaster, and a magic show involving emotional manipulation from a man with bionic eyes.
That, to me, is Edinburgh in a nutshell. You do not browse the Fringe. You survive it.
Cabaret and variety alone feels like somebody has emptied a dressing-up box, a magician’s pocket and a dream diary into the same room. The Conjuring Coach is back at the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre promising maths-magic, mentalism, ropes, cards and more besides. Monty Python’s Previous Cabaret Singalong Circus heads to artSpace@StMarks with satirical songs, piano antics and audience singalongs, while 1954: Ella, Etta, Eartha at Assembly transports audiences back to the year of Fitzgerald, James and Kitt, with jazz, soul and enough glamour to straighten your posture just reading about it.
Then there is Christian Lavey’s Mindreading and Other Freaking Wonders at Braw Venues, where psychology, intuition and illusion all start blurring together, and Self Censored at Greenside, which asks when self-protection becomes self-erasure inside a fractured subconscious featuring a chaotic drag persona and an overprotective childhood plushie. Honestly, I do not know whether to laugh, wince or buy a ticket immediately, which is usually a good sign.
And just when you think the category has surely peaked, along comes 90s Magic Throwback at Hoots with VHS tapes, dial-up internet and dreadful fashion choices, Broken Planet Show at Just The Tonic with a nightly riot of world-class weirdos, and Dr Mew’s Sci-Fi Cabaret at Laughing Horse, where LGBTQ+ acts and allies gather under the watchful paw of a feline former pundit. Lauriston Castle gets in on the act too with The Secret Room, where magicians bring the venue’s history to life through story and illusion, while Aboot Time: Moulin-Esque at Le Monde promises a Scottish reimagining of Moulin Rouge filled with satire, swagger and scandal.
Then, because the Fringe never knows when to stop, somebody has decided we also need Robot Vacuum Fight Club at Outhouse Bar, where teams customise knockoff Roombas and send them into battle. I am sorry, but that is exactly the sort of idea that makes you snort, reread the listing, and then quietly add it to your maybe pile. Rainbows! at theSpaceUK brings science demonstrations and colourful wonders, The Upside Down Cabaret at PBH’s Free Fringe celebrates LGBTQIA+ talent, Andrew Frost: Just Let Me Have This at Pleasance mixes card magic with lies and laughs, and Wrigglers After Dark! at Stockbridge Church offers violin, cello and background stories about composers, with wine included, which feels like one of the more civilised offers in the whole avalanche.
There is also Fungasm: Save or Smash, where antiques and game-show silliness collide, Sip Sparkle Skull at The Jazz Bar serving up songs about drinks, and Taiwan Season: Birthday Party at Underbelly, where autobiography and sleight-of-hand sound as though they are about to make you unexpectedly emotional.
Then I toddled over to the children’s listings, thinking perhaps things would become calmer and more orderly.
Absolutely not.
The children’s programme has all the usual Fringe energy, which is to say it looks like someone gave a glitter cannon to a science teacher, a pirate, a puppet maker and a jazz musician and told them all to get cracking. Ted Hill Teaches You Science, Most of Which Is True at Assembly sounds like the sort of lesson every child would remember and every adult would spend all afternoon trying to fact-check. All New Crazy Puppet Magic Show at Frankenstein Pub promises colourful cheeky puppets and magical mayhem, while Don’t Wait For Me… – France Showcase begins in a world where houses grow legs, wings or sails and then travel at night, which is a sentence so lovely I nearly wanted to frame it.
Mama G: The Magic Bookmark at Gilded Balloon has Book Worm attempting to steal all the books from the library, so Mama G must save the day by proving books still matter, while A Pirate’s Bedtime at Greenside sets Annie and her crew off across seas, storms and creatures in search of what really matters. Boys Don’t Dance at Assembly @ Dance Base brings a more poignant note, with acclaimed disabled artist Marc Brew reflecting on his lifelong journey toward dance, reminding us that the Fringe can still stop you in your tracks when it wants to.
And honestly, that is one of the things I like best about a batch like this. Even when it is full of daftness and slime and singalongs, there is room for care.
Magic Spectacular turns up at Hoots with performers from around the world, Ian and His Talking Fingers brings ventriloquism and audience participation, and Slugageddon! sounds exactly as magnificently ridiculous as its title suggests. Scottish Family Panto Fun with Mr ButtonZ and The Buttons Show! comes complete with puppets, stories, magic and live Scottish singalong songs, while Dragon Tales returns with storytelling and puppetry for preschool audiences.
Then there are gentler, more thoughtful offerings tucked between the noise. Brrr creates a multi-sensory winter world for young audiences with complex needs, Seasons explores grief and miscarriage through a lively musical puppet show, and Serious Nonsense offers free poetry for all ages. Mark Watson Tries to Impress Children, for Some Reason is still one of the funniest titles in the whole announcement, while Humdinger Words for Whippersnappers and Guttersnipes promises poetry, trivia and antics. Amazing Family Comedy Bingo: Prizes Galore! practically shouts from the listing page, The Lion and the Mouse wraps music around animals for little ears, and Smashing Shakespeare: Brave Macbeth gives the Bard a quick, witty shake for younger audiences.
And still it keeps going. Tenement Jazz Band opens live jazz up to children, Godly Play offers a quieter reflective space, Places I Go from My Bed transforms everyday hospital room objects into fantastical adventures, Bleep Bleep! turns physical comedy, live drawing and music into a robot story, and The Battle of Frogs and Mice gives Ancient Greek storytelling a puppet-filled new outing at ZOO.
By this point, my satchel was already getting heavy, but comedy had other ideas.
Comedy at the Fringe is never just one thing, and this latest batch proves it. Romantic Comedy at Assembly turns the open mic scene, relationship stories and partner-performer chemistry into a show of its own. Ashish Vijh – Performative Male at Greenside takes on masculinity, ambition and therapy, while #1 Son: The Story of Sammer’s Father’s Son at Hoots throws in observational comedy, props, anti-humour and generational divide. The Improverts! are still there doing what they do best at Bedlam Theatre, which is turning audience suggestions into beautiful chaos, and Alfie Moore: Fair Cop – Live! at Braw Venues swears audiences in as cops to tackle real-time scenarios from his casebook.
Further down the comedy pile, Kwami Odoom and Jack Henry turn their dilemmas into Support Group at Gilded Balloon, John Achkar brings a magnificently long title and a Lebanese comedian’s first English-language stand-up hour to Just The Tonic, and Soness: Sumo Injury Comeback Tour sounds like one of those stories that could only have happened to one specific, fascinating person. Ayoade Bamgboye returns to Monkey Barrel after that Best Newcomer win, Absolute Bus Stops of Northern Europe and Beyond celebrates the overlooked magic of bus stops, and Scott Manley Hadley’s Bald Personality Disorder folds mental health, hair loss, gender and quizzes into the mix.
Omar Badawy: Guided Detour arrives at Pleasance with tales of avoidance, The Daily Mail and nose jobs, which sounds like a strong recipe for a debut. Craig Wilson serves up hospitality horror in This Might Be Nothing, Man Sings the Same Song Over and Over Again for an Hour at Summerhall wins on title alone before anyone has even walked through the door, and Ifrah Qureshi: 48 Flaws of Power takes the ruthless laws of power and drags them into everyday life. Nate Fleming’s Not Black Enough uses personal storytelling to look at race in America, John Hegley arrives with New and Selected Potatoes, Justin Elizabeth Sayre Is a 40-Year-Old Woman channels the stylish dames of yesteryear, and Japanese Grandma Funeral blends clowning, storytelling and Okinawan funeral customs into something that sounds both funny and tender.
Elsewhere, Felt Nowt: Nerds Assemble changes shape each day like a joyful overthinking machine, and The Over 50s Dating Comedy Game Show invites a room of singles to flirt with fate in public, which frankly feels braver than half the performers at the Fringe.
Then you glance across the wider comedy line-up and it is like bumping into half the festival in one corridor. David O’Doherty, Gyles Brandreth, Jason Byrne, Mike Wozniak, Frisky and Jack Dee are all in the mix at Assembly. Bobby Davro pops up at Frankenstein Pub. Patrick Monahan and Gregor Fisher head to Gilded Balloon. Monkey Barrel pulls in Harriet Kemsley, James Acaster and Nish Kumar. Pleasance has Ruby Wax, Ahir Shah, Kemah Bob, Mark Watson and Kristen Schaal. The Stand welcomes Mark Thomas and Richard Herring, and Underbelly has Abandoman. It is the sort of spread that makes even seasoned Fringe-goers feel their pencil hovering helplessly over the brochure.
Then off we go into dance, physical theatre and circus, where the Fringe traditionally likes to pretend gravity is optional.
The Masquerade at Fruitmarket sounds like one of those performances that gets under your skin, with Afrobeat, revolutionary poetry and future beats all pulsing through it. More Tales From Your Queer Elder at Greenside centres a 70-plus lesbian artist telling intimate, queer-centred stories, while The Last Lie of Pinocchio at Just The Tonic imagines the famous puppet nearing the end of life and having to rescue his daughter from a world with no adventure. That is the kind of premise that sounds slightly mad until you remember where you are.
Formosa Viva at Paradise Green uses eight performers to trace 500 years of Taiwan’s history through contemporary dance and physical theatre. Ballet Revolución returns to Pleasance with all the sold-out history, Cuban energy and raw power you would expect, while Seed Dance’s Taiwan Season: The Wall heads to Summerhall with symbolic platforms and sharp thinking around division, connection and vulnerability. R/evolution(s) at Assembly @ Dance Base reimagines butoh with deep bass and drums, Shaolin Clown at Teatro Fisico lets a monk rediscover his clownish soul, and Symphony of Light turns dance into a response to the Psalms.
Afro Acrobatic Arts brings suspension, limbo, juggling and African performance traditions to theSpaceUK, while Afronauts at Underbelly crashes circus, theatre and space adventure together through the story of Zambia’s wildly ambitious space programme. A young girl, two cats and a missionary heading for the cosmos? Very Fringe. Soft Spot at ZOO, meanwhile, puts two artists, wooden planks and 300 wine glasses on stage and dares the whole structure not to collapse. Even reading that made me sit up straighter.
Music, naturally, then swings in and reminds everyone it can be just as sprawling as theatre. There is Philip Adie’s Flamenco Guitar Odyssey, silent cinema with live musicians in The Last of the Mohicans, Rhapsody in Chicago Blues piano recital, and original piano compositions in Fireflies, Green Seas and Burning Cities. Ariana and the Rose bring heartbreak and pop to The Breakup Variety Hour at Assembly, while the No Strings Attached Community Wind Band promises joyful chaos and heartfelt flair. Alastair Savage offers Scots fiddle old and new, The Planets 360 reimagines Holst at Dynamic Earth, and the South London Jazz Orchestra turns up as the friendliest, funkiest big band in town.
Dear Emily transforms Dickinson into song, Everett Chorale: Celebration Concert blends American and Celtic influences, and Bad Santa and the Angry Elves arrive ready to rescue Christmas through rock’n’roll. There is weird pop from Dancing Mice – The Truth, dementia-friendly singalongs at LifeCare Centre, candlelit Fauré, Corries-inspired traditional music from The Sorries, and a fourth Fringe outing for the ever-game John Otway.
And because the Fringe likes its music with just as much texture as anything else, there is Be United Presents: Rhythm and Bass at Pleasance Pop Up: Leith Arches, Kim Edgar singing Songs of Unity, Clann An Drumma bringing thunderous Celtic energy, PLASTIC blending geomungo, traditional Korean singing and electronics, and Siobhan Wilson’s Flowercore celebrating Scottish wildflowers through music and imagery. Kat Brooks returns with Glamour and Grit: The Women Who Defined Soul, Whisky & Witches mixes folklore, witch hunts and whisky across five countries, and Another Summer at The Royal Oak sounds like it is poking at the darkness beneath our idea of summer itself.
Scotland in Song brings a family-friendly historical singalong, Bad Girls turns female pop anthems into an audio-visual joyride, Boom Boom Battle of the Big Bad Bosses uses human voice and movement to tell tales of power, Where Do You Come From? explores heritage and belonging, and Prana at Valvona & Crolla weaves Indian and Japanese classical traditions together. Then there is the Sacred Arts Festival music strand spreading itself right through churches across the city, because of course the Fringe has decided one venue at a time is not enough.
Musicals and opera, meanwhile, are in no mood to sit quietly either. FUCCBOIS: LIVE IN CONCERT at Assembly promises a comedy-boyband extravaganza satirising toxic dating culture, while Introductions at Braw Venues tackles performative identity and relationships. The Opera Gala Concert celebrates Fife Opera’s 50th birthday, Antigone: A Town Hall Musical relocates Sophocles to 1989 California, and The Real Housewives of the Zombie Apocalypse at Greenside sounds like somebody took camp, chaos and body count and asked, “Can we push this further?”
Noteworthy: The Made-Up Musical crashes comedy and improvisation into musical theatre, Salt and Light gathers audiences around the campfire, Mother Earth reimagines our planet’s history as sci-fi musical comedy, and Charles II: Living Libido Loca promises sex, adventure, Protestantism and monarchy with no trace of modesty. The Shocking Truth About Flat Earth pops up at Pleasance again, Captivate Theatre brings a whole clutch of youth musical adaptations, Legendary at Underbelly blends Chinese mythology and queer legacy, and After Winter at theSpaceUK turns marriage and gender roles into intimate musical storytelling.
Spoken word has its own little treasure trail through the announcement. Raul Kohli attempts A Brief History of Northumbria, which as a North East history buff piece already feels like it was sent to tempt me personally. There are ghostly Tales of Haunted Edinburgh, Highland folklore with Gaelic songs and bagpipes, and Brian Bilston leading audiences through the pleasure of poetry. The Sacred Arts Festival has its own poetry strand too, while the Eric Liddell Community hosts talks about Eric Liddell himself and the making of Chariots of Fire.
Elsewhere, Love Light and Labels gives us an AuDHD unicorn trying to decode humanity, Echoes of Self uses taste, touch and confession to awaken ancestral memory, and I’m The One Your Mother Warned You About offers poems about childhood, fatherhood and national exasperation. Richard Thomson’s The Art of Not Letting Go mixes comedy poetry with the aisles of Lidl, Mistakes on Maps turns flawed historical maps into a visually rich journey, Witch? Women on Trial digs into the lives of ordinary women caught in religion, politics and magic, and Life of Pie uses pizza as the anchor point in a nomadic life. Iain Dale’s All Talk series returns to Pleasance, Darren McGarvey brings Performative Male, ADEY combines spoken word with movement and music, and Louis de Bernières offers poetry, stories and songs at Valvona & Crolla.
Then at last we reach theatre, which, as ever, contains enough tonal whiplash to leave your neck in a brace.
Sherlock Holmes: The Death and Life at the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre sounds witty and literary, exploring what happens when fictional characters start taking on lives of their own. Live From The Afterlife at Assembly swings between campfire storytelling and gut-punch folk-rock while tackling time, terminal illness and survival. Mother, Maiden and Crone at Bedlam Theatre retells Macbeth from the witches’ perspective, but only if the witches were a bimbo shot boy, a klepto DJ and a drag queen, which is frankly the sort of sentence the Fringe was invented for.
Beth and Ben: Your Place in the Workplace turns a workplace induction into an AI-assisted disaster, Whoever Has Ears To Hear offers the Gospel of Mark entirely from memory, and Van Gogh & Me uses 24 paintings to probe artistic ambition and fragile minds. Into The Light tells the true survival story of Marguerite de la Rocque, The End of the World follows a failed writer trying to seize the narrative of her own life in the bleakest way possible, and Danger Plan! mixes songs, stories and dark humour around trauma and anxiety.
Chestnuts shifts between London and Shanghai to explore migration and intimate history, Brassed Off arrives with live music and working-class resistance, and Best. Dad. NEVER. follows a first-time father fumbling his way toward understanding while trying to celebrate Black Girl Magic. The RemAIns of the Butler asks whether anyone can survive the age of AI, Sinatra: One Last Shot catches the icon in search of reinvention, and The Mysterious Seelie Wight Women turns folk belief into survival in the aftermath of the Reformation and witchcraft laws.
Sex, Drugs and Conscious Souls gives us a pastor and a prostitute writing a show about their own unlikely love story, Heart Beats Strong lands at Pleasance with adolescent boys confronting sexuality, violence and identity, and The Fox, the Slipper and the Severed Head brings a Chinese Grimm tale of greed and vengeance to Rotunda Theatre. Whale Fall or Song to Dance With My Death imagines mourning oneself, Doctor Faustus appears under the Sacred Arts Festival banner, and Breathe: Five Arias That Saved My Life tells the rare mesothelioma survival story of soprano Katy Lees through the music that held her up.
Come Back Home at Summerhall wrestles with loss and the idea of return, A Woman in Berlin 1945 faces historical memory with formal boldness, Sweet tells of an Edinburgh woman becoming an abolitionist despite the city’s ties to the slave trade, Jessies brings drag queens and bar staff together in 1980s and 90s Scotland, and Pink Rabbit follows a woman balancing faith, shame, thrill and performance under the eye of her strict mother. High Heels from the Big Boot lets an AI narrator spill an Italian grandmother’s secrets, and Confessions Of A Mulatto Love Child rounds things out with an intimate story of identity, memory and the bond between mother and daughter.
So yes, has the Fringe just thrown 1,730 more reasons at us to panic-book August?
Absolutely.
But it is not gloomy panic, is it? It is that very particular Fringe panic where your eyes go a bit wide, your shortlist gets out of hand by lunchtime, and suddenly you are trying to work out whether one human being can sensibly fit in a Northumbria history talk, a card magic lie-fest, a drag cabaret, a robot vacuum competition, some children’s jazz, a Scottish Moulin Rouge and an emotionally devastating play before supper.
The answer, of course, is no.
But that has never stopped any of us trying.
And that is the real thrill of a batch like this. Not just the number, though the number is gloriously absurd. It is the sense that hidden inside those 1,730 new additions are all the possible Fringes people might end up having. The careful one. The chaotic one. The comedy binge. The family day out. The accidental late-night masterpiece above a bar. The little underdog that takes you by surprise and stays with you for months.
That is what the Fringe has tossed at us here.
Not just more shows.
More chances to get gloriously lost.
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