The Free Fringe is an organisation that promotes free shows at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Free Fringe venues are commonly independently run bars and nightclubs which create performance spaces in their premises for the duration of the Fringe Festival. It was started in 1996 by Peter Buckley-Hill with the show "Peter Buckley-Hill And Some Comedians" in the basement of the Canon's Gait pub on the Royal Mile

Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...

 in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

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Performers are not charged for performance spaces on the condition that they do not charge an entry fee into their shows, although audience members are asked to make a donation at the end of a show.

Predominantly the shows are comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 but the programme has expanded to include theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and spoken word

Spoken word

Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

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The venues have expanded since 1996 from the original Canon's Gait venue to over 170 free shows in 19 venues - over 3,500 performances including appearances from performers including Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...

, Simon Munnery

Simon Munnery

Simon Munnery, also known by his stagenames of Alan Parker: Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium, is an English comedy writer and experimental standup comedian...

 and Robin Ince

Robin Ince

Robin Ince is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage .-Stand-up comedy:...

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Most of the operating costs for the Free Fringe are covered through advertising sponsorship in the Free Fringe brochure. It's part of the Free Fringe ethos that no performer should pay anything towards the running of the organisation.

Since 1996 the Free Fringe has thrived, winning numerous awards including...

• Tap Water Awards: spirit of the Fringe 2006
• Chortle Award for Innovation 2007
• Chortle Award for Best Off—Stage Contribution 2007
• Three Weeks: Editors Choice Award

In 2009 Peter Buckley Hill won the Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly Perrier) Panel Prize, in recognition of his work on the Free Fringe, and it has been described as 'the true spirit of the Fringe' by comedian Sean Lock

Sean Lock

Sean Lock is an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian. He won the British Comedy Award in 2000 in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award. He is also well known for his appearances on television and radio...

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In 2010 The Fringe office created controversy after being accused of inflating its box office figures by including an arbitrary number for audiences attending free shows and had to defend its position.

Previous associations

In 2004 Peter Buckley-Hill and Laughing Horse Comedy went into partnership to promote free shows across the festival under the banner name "The Free Fringe". This partnership ended in 2006 however both organisations continue to promote free shows across the festival under the names PBH's Free Fringe and Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Free Festival is an organisation that promotes free shows of all genres at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Free Festival venues are commonly independently run bars and nightclubs which create performance spaces in their premises for the duration of the Fringe Festival...

(The Free Festival)

External links

• The Free Fringe – Official website of The Free Fringe
• The Man Who Wants to Set the Fringe Free!