We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves through creativity and experience the thrill of live performance.
We’re working hard to ensure that everybody who wants to take part can, by removing barriers to attendance and participation. Here are some of the steps we’ve taken to make the festival more welcoming to all.
This page is about our strategic work around access – to find out about access services at this year's festival, please visit our Accessibility page.
Attitude is Everything Charter
In 2015 we started working alongside Attitude is Everything. As part of this work, we have committed to being an Attitude Champion, and produced an Attitude Charter of eight ambitions:
- All events organised by the Society will be as accessible as possible.
Our new Fringe Central building has step free access and includes a Changing Places toilet. We provide live captioning at the Society AGM and ensure there is BSL provision at our Programme launch. We also provide a mix of BSL and captioning at Fringe Central events for artists and industry. We offer a Relaxed Meet the Media hour and provide sensory resources for artists at Fringe Central throughout August. We train all of our staff in disability equality, with both in-person and online opportunities. - We’ll support and encourage Fringe participants and venues to increase the number of performances and events that are relaxed, BSL interpreted, captioned and audio described.
We offer a range of programmes to support Fringe participants and venues to increase the number of enhanced performances. These range from regularly updated guides on our website, to webinars from industry professionals. We fund a number of captioning and audio description units and lend these out to venues and participants. - We’ll expand the access information we provide on edfringe.com and support venues to expand their access information.
- We’ll provide box office services which are accessible to all, including the ability to book access tickets online.
- We’ll consult and communicate regularly with D/deaf and disabled people.
- We’ll increase the attendance of D/deaf and disabled people at the Fringe and Fringe Society events.
- We’ll create an environment that encourages D/deaf and disabled people to work and / or perform at the Fringe.
- The Fringe will be internationally recognised as a physically accessible festival.
Sensory resources
The Fringe can be an overwhelming environment, with loud noise, dense crowds and the fast‑paced, unpredictable nature of the festival. This can create significant sensory overload for neurodivergent people or anyone who experiences it. To help reduce some of this stress we provide a range of free sensory tools for anyone who may benefit from them during August.
The initiative began as a pilot in 2018, and the positive feedback from audiences has enabled us to continue offering them to Fringe audiences today. In 2025, over 1,800 sensory tools were distributed via post, pre‑order and collection. Access to these resources helped hundreds of individuals and their families to participate in the festival with greater ease.
British Sign Language
To make Fringe performances more welcoming for D/deaf audiences, we introduced British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation at the Fringe Street Events, as well as a BSL-on-request service (both delivered with Deaf Action).
Since 2018, we have provided BSL interpretation for street performances in West Parliament Square. In recent years, we have dedicated three days each August to offering BSL interpretation across the entire day’s street performance programme as managed by our street team.
This approach gives D/deaf audiences a reliable opportunity to enjoy a full day of street performances while making inclusion visible in public space and signalling that D/deaf visitors are expected and welcomed.
In 2024 we piloted BSL on Request, a project aiming to give deaf audiences greater choice over what they see at the Fringe. In practice a deaf audience member selects a performance, and Deaf Action (with support from the Fringe Society) works with artists and venues to arrange an interpreter for it. In 2025, nine performances were supported through the project, allowing deaf Fringe-goers greater autonomy over their festival schedule.
Disability equality training
As part of our ongoing commitment to making the Fringe more accessible, we’ve created a dedicated disability equality training tool that has been available to Fringe Society and venue staff since 2017. In 2025 and 2026, we’ve arranged for Creative Access to provide specific training for our Registration and Box Office teams. Where possible, this training is available to venue staff as well.
The training is designed to ensure that everyone working across the Fringe is empowered and equipped to provide great customer service for all audiences and participants. The training supports staff in recognising and removing barriers, promoting inclusive practice, and ensuring that no one experiences discrimination.