The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has opened Fringe Central, its first permanent, year-round headquarters, at 6 Infirmary Street in the city's Old Town. The building was formally opened on August 7 by UK Culture Minister Ian Murray alongside Edinburgh council leader Jane Meagher, culture convener Margaret Graham, Fringe Society chief executive Tony Lankester and society chair Benny Higgins.
The project was funded with £7 million from the UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, alongside contributions from the Foyle Foundation, SP Energy Networks, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Changing Places Toilets Scotland Fund, according to the Fringe Society. The City of Edinburgh Council granted the society a 99-year lease on the building.
Fringe Central replaces a series of temporary venues the society had used during festival month for the past decade. The new hub will operate year-round, offering one-to-one advice for artists and producers, industry networking events connecting performers with theatre, film and television professionals, bookable rehearsal space, and mental health support delivered through a partnership with the charity Health in Mind.
"A long-held ambition"
Lankester described the milestone in a statement marking the move: "For nearly 10 years we have had a desire to create a welcoming space for everyone involved with the Festival Fringe – from artists, producers and venues to Edinburgh's residents and stakeholders across the city."
Murray called the Fringe "transformational for aspiring artists and producers, and the UK creative ecosystem," according to STV News.
The opening comes as the 2026 Fringe runs through August 31, with the society reporting more than 4,200 shows across 299 venues and participants from 74 countries — figures that keep it, by a wide margin, the world's largest performing arts festival. The Fringe traces its origins to 1947, when eight theatre companies uninvited to the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival staged their own shows on the margins of the event; the Fringe Society itself was formed in 1958.
Unlike the temporary setups it replaces, Fringe Central is intended to serve Edinburgh residents and the local arts community outside the festival window as well, extending the society's reach beyond the three weeks each August when the Fringe takes over the city.
