Fringe Society membership

Join the Edinburgh Fringe Society for £5 per year to have a hand in shaping the festival's future.

Become a Fringe Society member

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the organisation that underpins the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Its core aims are to support participants, assist Fringe audiences and celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world.

As an open membership organisation, we're always looking for new and diverse voices to join the conversation and help shape the future of the Society.

Membership costs £5 a year to cover administration costs and members are responsible for electing the Board of Directors, adopting the accounts and appointing the auditors each year. By choosing to become a member of the Fringe Society, you play a significant role in one of the world’s most incredible arts festivals.

Membership to the Fringe Society is annual and runs for 12 months from the point at which you join. Before your membership expires we will remind you to renew your membership so you can continue to make a contribution to the Society.

Join or renew membership

Our commitments

The founding principle at the heart of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – to be an open-access arts event that welcomes anyone with a story to tell and a venue to host them – still guides the work of the Society today.

It’s our policy that no single individual or committee determines who can or cannot perform on the Fringe.

The Society was formed in 1958, in recognition of the fact that more and more performers were coming to Edinburgh despite not being included in the Edinburgh International Festival programme. Its earliest tasks included providing information to artists, publishing the Fringe Programme and creating a central box office. In 1969 the Society was incorporated as a limited company and its constitution published.

Unlike many other festivals, our constitution celebrates the fact that the Society does not vet the Fringe Programme. That means we have no artistic director and that the programme is shaped by the initiative and vision of performers willing to showcase their work here.

The Fringe Society exists to:

support, advise and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe
provide information and assistance to help audiences curate their own Fringe experience
celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world
ensure the Fringe Society is sustainable, utilising its resource to the greatest benefit of the Fringe and its constituents.

Board of Directors

The Society has a Board of Directors which oversees our core Fringe Society staff in their year-round work and makes sure everything is in place to support those who produce and present the world’s biggest explosion of culture every August.

Find out more about the Board of Directors

Frequently asked questions

Anyone can become a member of the Fringe Society. From artists and venue representatives to local residents and regular Fringe-goers, everyone who has an interest is welcome.

It’s important that our membership is diverse and actively represents the breadth of people who engage with the Fringe and values of the Fringe Society. Our ambition is to grow a more representative membership, from different ethnicities, young people, local residents, working class people, D/deaf and disabled people, to bring fresh perspective and voices to the table.

Members help to shape the future of the Society and, ultimately, the impact the charity has on shaping the world’s greatest arts festival. You can have your say on what our board looks like and be an important part of the conversation at our Annual General Meeting (AGM), as well as receiving regular updates about the work of the Fringe Society and the wider Fringe.

You can sign up using the link below. Society membership currently costs £5 a year, to cover administration costs.

Become a member

Members are responsible for electing the Board of Directors, adopting the accounts and appointing the auditors each year. You also need to be a member of the Fringe Society to be nominated to stand for election to the Board of Directors.

Members' area

2025 board elections

The 2025 board elections will take place over July and August. Please see below some key dates:

Thursday 12 June 2025 – nominations open
Thursday 10 July 2025, 12:00 noon – nominations close
Monday 21 July 2025 – voting opens
Tuesday 05 August 2025, 12:00 noon – deadline for joining or renewing to vote
Tuesday 19 August 2025 12:00 noon – voting closes
Tuesday 19 August 2025, 12:00 noon – AGM

Voting is now open

Voting for the 2025 elections to the Board of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is now open. Eligible members will receive an email from Civica Election Services with a unique electoral number and a link to our election website.

To be eligible to vote in the elections, you must have an active membership as at 12:00 noon, Tuesday 05 August 2025.

Those who become a member after this date will not be eligible to vote, but are still welcome to attend the AGM.

Candidates

This year, there are two seats open for election – one each in the Show Participant and Open categories. Both seats will be contested.

Category – Show Participant

Nominee	Proposer	Seconder	Candidate statement
Joshua Beaumont	James Seabright	Anthony Alderson	Joshua's statement
Elise Harris	Peter Buckley Hill	Luke Meredith	Elise's statement

Category – Open

Nominee	Proposer	Seconder	Candidate statement
Hannah Schlesinger Brodie	Gordon Dewar	Shona McCarthy	Hannah's statement
Apphia Campbell	Sarah Louise Young	James Seabright	Apphia's statement

AGM

The AGM is an in-person only event and will not be live-streamed or recorded.

Date and time: 12:00 BST, Tuesday 19 August 2025

Location: Maclaren Stewart Room, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL

Entry: Please enter via the accessible entrance on Chambers Street.

There will be several Fringe employees clearly visible with yellow lanyards around the entrance. Should you require any assistance or directions to the event, please notify a member of the team.

There is step-free access, via elevator, to the meeting room, as well as an accessible bathroom. Further information can be found on the University of Edinburgh website.

Important documents for members

All of the following are .PDF downloads: