Pianodrome venue in Bruntsfield (photo by Devon Peterson
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
From a working sauna and a venue built from old pianos to comedy clubs hidden beneath Edinburgh’s streets, the Fringe continues to transform some of the city’s most unusual spaces into unforgettable performance venues. This year is no different, with performers taking to stages in some truly unexpected locations.
With these unique performance spaces popping up all over the capital in the month of August, we put together a list of the Edinburgh Fringe 2026’s most weird and unique venues.
This year’s hottest venue: Sauna Theatre at Summerhall
Heating things up this August, Summerhall has partnered up with new company Sauna Sessions Arts Club. The new project is set to be the UK’s largest sauna and first purpose sauna built to showcase theatre, art and culture, creating (literally) this year’s hottest arts space.
Performances at this venue mostly includes theatre, creating a bizarre and unique experience for both the audience and the performer. Bound to keep your palms sweaty, Sauna Theatre will welcome performances such as a morning rave and the world’s greatest Aufguss artists.
Heated to around 90 degrees centigrade during performances, Summerhall has introduced potentially this year’s weirdest and most unique venue.
Summerhall
The creepiest venue: Summerhall Anatomy Theatre
Sticking with the former school of veterinary studies turned iconic art spaces, Summerhall also potentially takes this year’s top place for the creepiest venue due to the many performances taking place in the Victorian buildings anatomy theatre and laboratories.
Creating a fascinating contrast between its history and today’s comedy and theatre, the venue’s historic yet creepy layout really adds to the shows on offer, creating an atmosphere unlike any traditional theatre.
Pianodrome venue in Bruntsfield (photo by Devon Peterson
The venue built from pianos: Pianodrome
Described as ‘a radical re-imagining of the piano in today’s throw away culture’, Pianodrome CIC have created a unique and playable sculpture made entirely from disused pianos, welcoming audiences to sit in the amphitheatre to watch musical performances.
Following St Oswald’s Church is Bruntsfield coming under community ownership in 2020, a pianodrome has opened in the Bruntsfield venue constructing the unique amphitheatre amongst the stone pillars and stained glass of the old church.
The unique venue is welcoming popular musicians and bands to this year’s festival, creating an intimate performance where you are literally surrounded by music.
Underground Edinburgh: The Caves
Just The Tonic at The Caves is an iconic Fringe venue, hosting performances right under Edinburgh’s historic streets. During the festival, the gloomy caves transform into a labyrinth for creativity and performance with six different performance spaces on offer.
The venue, on Niddry Street South, just off Cowgate, turns the capital’s unique underground spaces into an atmospheric hub for art with the venue putting a large focus during the festival towards comedy.
Initially built as workshops in 1788, the caves under South Bridge quickly became a dank slum, rumoured to be a haven for outlaws and serial killers Burke and Hare.
So, despite lighting up the dark caves with the beauty of art and live performance, the venue’s eerie past creates a fascinating place to watch shows in Edinburgh’s city centre.
Dynamic Earth
The science venue: Dynamic Earth
Edinburgh’s popular interactive science centre is hosting a packed lineup of immersive planetarium shows at this year’s festival, creating a visually incredible experience within the centre’s 360 dome screen.
Despite being veterans at the festival, the centre offers one of the best visual experiences on offer at the festival, straying away from stand-up and creating immersive experiences.
Still offering scientific shows, during the Fringe the venue also uses the immersive dome to create unforgettable visual experiences such as a journey through Pink Floyd’s music and an evocative independent theatre production exploring the relationship between humans and the natural world, alongside many more.
The most unique show is most likely Whisky Under the Stars which offers a ‘cosmic tasting event in the planetarium’ led by in-house astronomers, marking the 300th anniversary of geologist James Hutton.
The temporary circus village: Circus Hub at the Meadows
When strolling through Edinburgh’s Meadows, one venue is bound to stand out. Standing alone in the large green space of the public park is a temporary circus village that appears for just a few weeks each August.
Circus Hub has become a staple of the Fringe, hosted by Underbelly who are one of the big hitters in the Fringe venue space, the festival’s first ever major venue dedicated to circus is returning for its 11th year.
Announcing a packaged programme for 2026, the venue is made up of the Lafayette (which is a 550 seat big top) and The Beauty (a 5000 seat spiegeltent), with the whole venue able to host over 1000 people.
The historic hub: St Giles’ Cathedral
Described as a ‘major, historic hub for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’, the home of the Scottish Reformation and countries national cathedral is once again opening its grand doors to host a variety of performances under the glare of its iconic stained glass.
The centuries-old place of worship creates a popular venue due to tourists and the number of great shows on offer. The cathedral turned Fringe venue 187 host shows that suit the building’s essence such as chilled choir performances and live piano shows.
An entire pop-up village of theatres: George Square Gardens
The gardens tucked away amongst Edinburgh University buildings, George Square Gardens, transforms during the festival into an entire pop-up village of theatres, bars and food stalls built specifically for the Fringe.
Taking over the gardens, Underbelly and Assembly (both popular venues during the festival) host massive gardens of performance spaces, bars and food stalls which attract thousands of visitors each year.
With Underbelly’s iconic upside down cow towering over the gardens, George Square becomes the beating heart of the Fringe each year offering a massive variety of shows from world-class comedy to dramatic theatre.
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
New research from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) shows firms are entering the second half of 2026 with business confidence continuing to weaken, reinforcing a cautious outlook for growth.
As a new Prime Minister entered Downing Street today and the Scottish Government undertakes a review of Non-Domestic Rates, SCC urged both governments to take advantage of these opportunities to improve the conditions for investment and growth.
Representing more than 12,000 companies and more than half of Scotland’s private sector workforce, SCC said the findings reinforce the case for governments to introduce a Competitiveness Test at the heart of decision-making, ensuring future policies contribute to a revitalisation of the economy.
Key findings of the latest survey included:
– Confidence weakened further: 40% of firms reported a fall in confidence during the quarter, compared with 25% reporting an increase.
– Inflation is now the leading concern for firms: Nearly seven in ten (69%) cited inflation as a concern, overtaking taxation (57%).
– Investment remains subdued: Around half reported no change to investment levels, while all investment measures recorded negative net balances.
– Recruitment difficulties increased: More than half of firms (53%) reported challenges recruiting staff.
– Cost pressures intensified: Labour costs affected 75% of firms, while fuel costs rose sharply to 65%, one of the largest increases recorded in recent years.
– Further price rises expected: Three-quarters expected to increase prices over the next three months.
Doug Smith, Vice-President of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and Chair of the Scottish Economic Advisory Group, said:
“Entering the second half of the year, firms are taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach. Confidence has weakened, investment remains subdued, and recruitment challenges continue to grow. Until businesses see meaningful action that unlocks investment, it is difficult to see confidence recovering.
“Perhaps the defining feature of this quarter’s survey is that businesses are protecting today’s operations at the expense of tomorrow’s growth. That cautious approach may help firms weather current pressures, but it also places a hard ceiling on Scotland’s growth potential.
“The persistence of these pressures is forcing difficult decisions across the country. Three quarters of respondents expect to increase prices in the coming months because absorbing further costs is no longer sustainable. That has implications well beyond individual firms, affecting household budgets, supply chains and wider economic confidence.
“The encouraging aspect is that many of these pressures can be influenced through domestic policy. Decisions that improve competitiveness, reduce the cost of doing business and give firms a greater degree of certainty would help unlock investment and support growth across the economy.”
Charandeep Singh BEM, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, added:
“The first half of 2026 has been challenging for Scotland’s businesses. While many of those challenges originate beyond the control of Holyrood and Westminster, recent developments in both governments present genuine opportunities to improve the conditions for investment and growth. Our members across Scotland would urge ministers to seize them.
“Cost pressures are reshaping day-to-day operations across Scotland, making investment decisions harder and holding back opportunities for expansion. Policymakers must take the initiative and introduce a Competitiveness Test at the heart of decision-making. Every major economic decision should be judged against one simple question: will it make it easier or harder for businesses to invest, hire and grow?
“Every step that makes it easier to do business, reduces unnecessary costs, and gives businesses greater certainty, will pay dividends for years to come.”
Professor Mairi Spowage, Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, said:
“While global conditions remain unsettled, from trade tensions to geopolitical disruption affecting energy markets, the Scottish economy has so far proved more robust than many had anticipated. However, as has been the case in recent quarters, that resilience should not be mistaken for strength.
“Despite these headwinds, firms continue to demonstrate a degree of resilience. Employment has remained broadly stable overall, even as recruitment challenges persist, and many businesses are continuing to operate in difficult conditions. But the overall picture is one of a fragile equilibrium – where resilience is being maintained, but at the cost of reduced investment, weaker confidence, and a more cautious outlook.”
Chris, Tiki and Paul
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A retired Coldstream nurse has embarked on a 1,100km walk across Zambia to support NHS Borders’ twin hospital.
Chris Faldon, a former public health specialist and trustee of The Logie Legacy charity, has set off from Victoria Falls on a two-month journey to the Malawi border.
The challenge – known as Zambia Route@66 – aims to raise funds for a new sewage and sanitation system at St Francis Hospital in eastern Zambia.
NHS Borders is proud to have been partnered with St Francis Hospital since 2008 through The Logie Legacy charity.
Over the years, staff from both organisations have worked together on projects spanning maternity services, paediatrics, physiotherapy, pharmacy, public health and tuberculosis control.
This latest initiative, known as the ZamBaz Project, aims to raise £200,000 to replace ageing sewage and sanitation infrastructure at St Francis Hospital.
Many of the hospital’s existing septic tanks and soakaways are deteriorating, creating environmental and public health risks.
The new system will provide a safe, sustainable and climate-friendly sanitation solution for patients, staff and local communities.
Chris said: “Throughout my career I’ve seen how some of the greatest improvements in health have come not from new medicines, but from clean water, effective sanitation and disease prevention. Good sanitation saves lives. It protects patients, healthcare workers and entire communities. That’s why this project is so important, and why I’m prepared to walk 1,100 kilometres to help make it happen.”
Alongside Chris’ fundraising challenge, NHS Borders is launching a Toilet Twinning Campaign, encouraging staff, schools, community groups, businesses and partner organisations to help fund the project.
Supporters can twin one of the 280 toilets at St Francis Hospital for a donation of £60. Individuals and groups are encouraged to organise fundraising activities such as bake sales, sponsored walks and workplace collections, with certificates available to recognise contributions.
Unveiling the first twinned toilet and officially launching the campaign, Fiona Sandford, chair of NHS Borders, said: “Our partnership with St Francis Hospital is something our organisation has been proud of for many years. It is built on shared learning, friendship and a commitment to improving health outcomes for communities in both countries.
“Chris’ remarkable walk and the Toilet Twinning Campaign are fantastic ways of supporting a project that will make a lasting difference. Every donation will help provide safer sanitation facilities and improve the health and wellbeing of patients, staff and families who rely on the hospital.”
People can support the appeal by sponsoring part of the walk, twinning a toilet, making a donation or organising their own fundraising activities.
Chris hopes to raise £20,000 through sponsorship of his walk, contributing towards the overall target for the ZamBaz Project. During the challenge he will share regular video updates on his YouTube channel, allowing supporters to follow his progress across Zambia.
To find out more, visit The Logie Legacy, support the ZamBaz Project through Stewardship or donate via JustGiving. You can support the Toilet Twinning Campaign on JustGiving too.
