Year-round Edinburgh venue Summerhall has been an important performance space and performer hub at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2011, though this year things are a little different.

After a number of changes at the year-round venue, Summerhall Arts – a charity formed in 2023 – is curating the venue’s Festival programme for the first time this August.

There are fewer shows in the Summerhall programme in 2025, with two of the building’s spaces being used for immersive experiences and a third, the Cairns Lecture Theatre, not in action. However, there is still a great and diverse programme of theatre, dance, physical theatre, comedy, music and exhibitions.

We spoke to the venue’s Fringe Producer And Programmer Tom Forster, pictured above with Summerhall Arts CEO Sam Gough. 

CC: Tell us a little about your venue and your 2025 programme.
TF: 2025 is the inaugural Summerhall Arts programme. It consists of colleagues both old and new, but underneath brand-new skin.

By handing over the keys to the Old Lab and Demonstration Room for singular, breathtaking immersive experiences – instead of nine shows per day in each venue – the approach to programming overall denotes quality not quantity.

Moreover, with the Cairns on hiatus for 2025, we’re giving visiting companies a better share of the highly competitive industry marketplace and our audience’s limited time. For example, despite 38 less shows in the building this year, we’re selling more tickets and a greater % of capacity than we did at this point in 2024.

CC: Give us a very quick history of your venue to date.
TF: Summerhall has been presenting work since 2011.

Since then, the building has undergone massive changes in how it delivers our Festival each year and 2025 sets itself far apart.

It’s a eulogy for the kind of festival we’ve been doing for a very long time, but also a blank canvas in a new era with lots of exciting ideas in the works for 2026.

CC: How do you decide what shows to include in your programme?
TF: We programme high-quality contemporary new writing and performance art that says something about the world in which we live and tells that story in an interesting way.

CC: How do you support your producers and performers once they arrive in Edinburgh?
TF: Programming, press, marketing and box office management are all in the same office – the old Deans Office – to greet companies when they arrive to collect their artist passes.

Because we work so closely together, we’re able to troubleshoot across our expertise quickly to any one enquiry. As I type this I’ve just shouted out across the office and counted, collectively there’s 61 years of Edinburgh Fringe experience right here, ready to help companies as they arrive.

There’s also the artist welcome pack which is pretty comprehensive, and a lot of work goes into that from every department on top of what we have here in person, including visual arts, operations, events, technical, security and building management.

CC: What is your advice for performers looking to promote their shows?
TF: Word-of-mouth during the opening days of the run is vital.

Check your venues papering comp policy before arrival and distribute those comps to front-line customer service staff within your venue’s postcode at cafes and bars.

That way, when those staff members inevitably get asked by tourists and the local community if they’ve seen anything they would recommend, they pass on your show.

CC: What is your advice for performers looking to get reviewed?
TF: Meet The Media, run by the Fringe Society, is a fantastic event for those that can’t afford a PR to do that work for them. Moreover, the Fringe Society have lots of similar events and resources tied to industry as well.

CC: What is your advice for performers looking to grow their industry network while they are in Edinburgh?
TF: See as many shows as possible by other artists with a similar themed show, chat to those artists afterwards. Repeat.

CC: How can performers get the most out of the Edinburgh experience in terms of their career?
TF: Your artist pass grants access to see other shows for free and that’s probably about £2-£3k worth of free tickets. Use it and learn from others.

CC: How can performers get the most out of the Edinburgh experience in terms of their creativity and performance skills?
TF: The Fringe is an unparalleled opportunity for emerging companies to perfect their craft and perform it to likeminded people from every corner of the planet.

It’s the most vast array of available dramaturgy anywhere and you shouldn’t be resistant to constructive feedback.

At the end of ‘Groundhog Day’, Bill Murray could speak French, play the piano and ice-sculpt – instead of doing the same thing every day. If the script isn’t landing how you wanted, change it. If that scene is annoying you, delete it and do something else.

Bring other artists that you’ve met at the Festival onto your stage for cameos. Grow it into something that would be impossible in any other setting.

CC: What are the biggest challenges facing the Edinburgh Fringe – and what can the Fringe community do to meet them?
TF: Accommodation. But this is a massive problem faced by the entire UK outwith the Fringe; there’s just a shortage of affordable housing nationwide.

The Fringe is the third largest ticketed event on the planet after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. If the Olympic Games announced Manchester for 2032, another city of 500,000, the exact same conversation about accommodation would be taking place but with time to plan and money to fund it.

Edinburgh doesn’t have either of those privileges, the next one is coming before the last one’s even finished.

I think it’s insane that such an incredible, reoccurring opportunity on the doorstep of a capital city allows luxury hotels over affordable housing in a setting that’s so excruciatingly perfect to be a testing ground for what the whole country needs in abundance.

LINKS: summerhallarts.co.uk