How accessible are Edinburgh’s festivals, from Edinburgh International Festival to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Scotland’s capital attracts four million visitors annually, and it’s the second most visited city after London. The thought of Edinburgh evokes images of quaint cobbled streets, majestic ancient castles, and pipers playing tunes on the Royal Mile.
But cram an extra three million visitors into the city for the month of August, when the world’s biggest festival of arts and culture swarms into town, and you’ve got what sounds like an accessibility nightmare. So how accessible is the city during Festival season?
Edinburgh International Festival began in 1947, in an attempt to unite people through art after the horrors of the Second World War. The Fringe started the same year, when several theatre troupes turned up to the Festival to perform, uninvited.
Every August, the International Festival presents a hand-picked programme of the finest performers in dance, opera, theatre and classical and contemporary music. The Fringe has now outgrown the original Festival, with every genre of live performance on offer – from theatre and comedy to circus and cabaret – taking place in the street, in theatres, on buses and even in shipping containers.
GIVE EVERYONE A SEAT
In 2022, the Fringe organisers launched a new vision “to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat”, in order to make the event as accessible, sustainable and equitable as possible. One of the Fringe Development Goals states that: “Who you are and where you are from is not a barrier to attending or performing at the Edinburgh Fringe”.
Visitors and performers alike have bemoaned the high cost of attending the event in recent years – the price of accommodation in Edinburgh soars as much as 1,500% during August. And the last couple of years have seen more feedback given about accessibility (or lack of) – after all, in an ancient city like Edinburgh, many of the venues used for performances were not built to modern accessible standards. However, event organisers have gone to great lengths to improve accessibility for disabled people.
SEARCH FOR A SHOW
Visitors can use search filters on the Fringe website at tickets.edfringe.com to find shows via specific accessibility criteria. Ticking every single accessibility box – captioning, audio description, signed performance, relaxed performance, wheelchair audience access, hearing loop and wheelchair accessible toilet – only returns one “fully” accessible show for 2024. But reduce those filters to wheelchair audience access and an accessible bathroom, and 1,511 different shows pop up, out of a total of 3,424 shows this year.
Some shows even offer a touch tour, enabling visually impaired audience members to get up close with the cast and set before or after the performance, to create a more immersive experience. Street performance has always been a massive feature of the Fringe, and BSL-interpreted performances at West Parliament Square will take place this year, with specific dates finalised nearer the time. Meanwhile, for people who find busy, noisy environments a challenge, sensory tools are available to borrow, and neurodivergent people can make use of visual timetables.
ACCESS TICKETS
The Fringe box office also offers an access tickets service, available to anyone who needs to book specific accessibility services like a hearing loop, AD headsets or seating near to a BSL interpreter. The service is also available to anyone who needs extra assistance at a venue, has specific seating requirements, is a wheelchair user, or who requires a complimentary personal assistant ticket to attend a performance.
To reach a broad audience, half of tickets for the 2024 International Festival will be sold at £30 or under, £10 Affordable Tickets will be available for every performance, and the concession ticket for D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people is increased from 30% to 50% off all full price tickets, with options for a free essential companion ticket still available where required.
GETTING AROUND
Edinburgh is well connected by public transport, and has a modern, fully accessible tram and bus system within the city. Edinburgh is a compact but hilly city, so being able to hail a black cab (all of which are accessible) can give some relief for visitors who have access needs.
When it comes to finding other places to visit, stay, relax or eat in the city, Euan’s Guide has plenty of up-to-date access reviews for Edinburgh. There are also nine Changing Places toilets in Edinburgh (including one set up specifically for the Fringe on Lauriston Place).
With large crowds, old buildings and bustling streets, finding your way around Edinburgh when you’re disabled is likely to be a challenge. But thanks to the efforts of organisers and staff, and with venues working hard to accommodate disabled people, there’s no reason you shouldn’t head to Scotland’s capital to soak up the atmosphere at the greatest cultural celebration on earth this August.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit AccessAble, Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh International Festival, Euan’s Guide and Forever Edinburgh.