Tuesday September 1st 2026
Summerhall Arts Fringe First Winners. Plaque Holders Top L-R: Ben Norris, The Distance; Salty Brine, HOW STRANGE IT IS (The Neutral Milk Hotel Show); Adam Riches, The Captain; Minjin Hong,Tether; Jude Green, Toast. Plaque Holders Bottom L-R: Xhloe and Natasha, Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It; Mary Higgins from Hotter Project's HAM; Hannah Maxwell, Turn Your F*cking Phones Off
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
The year-round arts charity, which staged its second Fringe under the Summerhall Arts banner and the 15th festival at the iconic venue, recorded an 8,000-ticket increase on last year, with sales up 13 per cent compared with 2025.
The 72-show core programme, curated by Fringe Programme Manager Tom Forster, featured artists and companies from 26 countries and explored themes including queer joy and gender identity, intergenerational healing, working-class identity and female rage.
More than 55 per cent of the programme featured international artists and companies, while 60 per cent was female-led, 23 per cent was created by artists of colour and 30 per cent featured an LGBTQ+ narrative.
Summerhall said the 81,000 tickets sold represented its highest-ever percentage of tickets sold across the festival programme.
The venue also recorded more than 1,300 press bookings, with 550 reviews and features published during the festival.
Summerhall artists picked up 29 major awards across 72 productions, including a record eight Scotsman Fringe First Awards.
The winning shows were Adam Riches: The Captain, Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It, HAM, Salty Brine: HOW STRANGE IT IS (The Neutral Milk Hotel Show), Tether 인연, The Distance, Toast and Turn Your F*cking Phones Off.
Two Summerhall productions were also selected for The Stage’s ‘Fringe Five’, which recognises emerging artists who made a significant impact at the festival. They were Hannah Maxwell’s Turn Your F*cking Phones Off and sketch comedy duo Britney’s Jitters.
Other accolades included The Skinny/Fest Bestie Awards’ Local Hero Award for Craig Manson’s Bunny! and Fringe Legend Award for Xhloe and Natasha’s Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half.
Conk’s Man Sings the Same Song Over And Over For An Hour won The List Festival Awards’ Best Comedy Award after a sold-out run, while Forgive Me received the Intercultural Connections Awards’ IC Pioneer Award.
Summerhall productions also received awards at the Bragi Awards, Scottish Theatre Awards On The Fringe and Fringe Theatre Awards.
The 2026 Fringe also saw the launch of Sauna Theatre, an 80-seat purpose-built venue featuring three sauna stoves and specialist technical facilities. The immersive venue hosted performances inside a working sauna.
Summerhall Arts also continued its artist support programme, providing four festival awards — the Autopsy Award, Meadows Award, Mary Dick Award and Melbourne Touring Award — alongside enhanced ticket splits, bursaries, fee waivers and additional PR, marketing and technical support.
The Autopsy Award went to Althea Young’s The Dreaming, while Fadi Murad’s Come Back Home received the Meadows Award. You and Me (And Whoever Comes Next) won the Mary Dick Award and Man Sings the Same Song Over and Over received the Melbourne Touring Award.
Summerhall’s support for artists also included paid Summerhall Surgeries, subsidised food and drinks for performers and staff, free shows for Scotland-based creatives and arts workers, and free yoga and sauna sessions for performers.
Summerhall Arts Chief Executive Sam Gough said the organisation would continue to put artist health and wellbeing at the centre of its preparations for next year.
He said: “The Fringe is definitely back! BUT the cost of bringing work here is a huge challenge, and it’s not just the financial cost.”
He added that the festival’s late finish and quieter final week had presented additional challenges, but said the team, artists and audiences had made 2026 “the most unforgettable year”.
Summerhall Arts Fringe Programme Manager, Tom Forster, said:
“Summerhall Arts’ focus on quality over quantity feels more important than ever, and here’s why: in a landscape where a supply of 3,649 shows far outstrips demand, our tightly curated selection of 72 productions from 26 countries has received 8 Fringe Firsts, breaking the previous core Summerhall programme record of 6 (held since 2016), alongside 64 five-star and 178 four-star reviews.
“In terms of audiences, we had 396 sold-out performances – that’s roughly one in five. The venue saw over 81,000 tickets sold, a 13% increase on 2025 ticket sales.
“I couldn’t be prouder of what this year’s companies have achieved, or more grateful that they chose to call our massively underinvested building home for the month.”
There were also 396 sold-out performances, meaning roughly one in five performances sold out.
Summerhall Arts will now move into its post-Fringe programme, with Edinburgh Psych Fest and the Gravity Beer Festival taking place later this month.
Its visual arts programme continues until September 13, while Garvald Edinburgh’s *Forming Space* opens on September 19. Conversations With Our Ocean* will arrive at the Dissection Room on October 9.
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