Support the Fringe Society by becoming a Fringe Friend.
Our Fringe Friends and Patrons are vital to the ongoing success of the Fringe, and their generous support and donations help us ensure everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, has the chance to enjoy the Fringe in the future.
Fringe Friends pay an annual membership fee, and we have several membership tiers to suit different budgets, with a variety of benefits available at each tier.
Thank you!
An enormous Fringe Society thank you to our Fringe Benefactors, Champions and Patrons, whose incredible generosity helps our charitable work to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat:
- Champion: Geoff Arbuthnott.
- Spotlight Patron: Jim Mellon.
- Backstage Patrons: Changing Ideas, Dr Kurt and Colleen Jennings-Roggensack.
- Front Row Patrons: Graeme and Rachel Baillie, Stephen and Teresa Graham.
- Emerging Patrons: Bert Aerts, Lisa Brindle, Chris Crouch and Molly Morris, Nancy Gibbs, Jessica Guo, Greg Lovett, Mike and Carol Ramsay, Whitney and Ally.
And to those who wish to remain anonymous.
How to join
Fringe Friends memberships are active for one festival period and can be bought with a recurring Direct Debit payment for UK Friends or one-off payments for all Friends.
Please note: Fringe Friend memberships are no longer available for 2024. We will reactivate them for the next Fringe in early 2025.
Fringe Friends membership tiers & benefits
Support the Fringe and unlock great benefits by becoming a Friend.
| Friend | Good Friend | Close Friend | Best Friend | |
| £49 or £39 DD |
£69 or £59 DD |
£99 or £89 DD |
£189 or £169 DD |
|
| Exclusive bulletins | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Priority booking line | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Membership card and lanyard | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Merchandise discount (10%) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Programme delivery discount (50%) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ||
| Programme delivered free | ✔️ | ✔️ | ||
| Local business offers card | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| 2for1 tickets on participating shows (see FAQs for restrictions) | 10 | 20 | 30 | 50 |
| Friend reception invites | ✔️ | ✔️ | ||
| Priority access to programme launch event tickets | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Fringe Patron membership tiers
| Emerging Patron | Front Row Patron | Backstage Patron | Spotlight Patron | Showstopper Patron | |
| £500 or £45 monthly* |
£1,600 or £140 monthly* |
£2,500 or £215 monthly* |
£5,000 or £420 monthly* |
£7,500 or £630 monthly* |
|
| All the benefits of a Best Friend | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Recommendations of hotels, restaurants and activities for during your stay | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Acknowledgement on the website | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Acknowledgement in the printed programme | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Invites (x2) to the Review of the Year event* | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Invites (x2) to the programme launch* | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Invites to further celebration events throughout the year | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ||
| Invites (x2) to the VIP Industry Welcome Address | ✔️ | ✔️ | |||
| Exclusive VIP Fringe passes when available | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ||
| Behind-the-scenes access to Fringe Central artist hub | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ||
| Exclusive time with the Friends team | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Exclusive time with Chief Executive | ✔️ | ||||
| Invoicing of ticketing post-festival | ✔️ | ||||
| Fringe Champions (£10K+) and Benefactor’s Circle (£50K+) | |||||
|
Our Fringe Champions and Benefactors provide vital support to the Fringe Society's charitable work and receive all of the benefits of a Showstopper Patron as well as opportunities to support a specific part of our charitable work. In 2023 we were able to support over 3,350 community visits to the Fringe, BSL interpretation at the Fringe street events, over 300 uses of our sensory resources and an initial 50 artists receiving Keep it Fringe funding thanks to our amazing donors. Please get in touch if you're considering becoming a Fringe Champion or Benefactor and we can discuss how you can help give anyone a stage and everyone a seat. |
|||||
*To become a Fringe Patron, Champion and Benefactor, please contact the team on support.us@edfringe.com or 0131 226 0036.
Paying by Direct Debit
Please note: Fringe Friend memberships are no longer available for 2024. We will reactivate them for the next Fringe in early 2025.
You can save time and money by setting up an annual Direct Debit for your Fringe Friends membership. As a Direct Debit customer, you’ll save up to 20% on the cost of any Friends membership.
Direct Debit is a simple, convenient and secure way to pay for your Fringe Friend membership; your subscription comes out of your bank automatically and there’s no need to contact us to pay. You can cancel your Direct Debit at any time.
Direct Debits are only open to Friends in the UK. Supporters from the US and overseas can become Friends using the standard card payment option above.
Gift memberships
Do you know a Fringe Fanatic? Arts Addict? Dance Devotee? Are you looking for a unique gift idea for the Fringe fan in your life? From just £49 you can gift a summer of inspirational theatre, comedy, dance and much, much more with a Fringe Friends membership. From 2for1 ticket offers to invitations to exclusive members’ events, our Friends membership is the perfect ticket to a great Fringe experience.
Gift memberships are delivered as a voucher that can be redeemed either online, in person or on the telephone. Visit the Fringe Shop for more information and to buy.
If you have been given a gift membership, you can redeem it here.
Fringe Network Friends
Want to support us as a business? Join our Fringe Network Friends, contribute to the ongoing success of the Fringe and enjoy the benefits.
Our Fringe Network Friends are a collective of passionate performing arts enthusiasts who want to share the extraordinary world of the Fringe with their clients and colleagues.
Frequently asked questions
The benefits of being a Fringe Friend include ticket offers, a priority booking line and discounts in the Fringe Shop.
Membership fees from Friends support the charitable work of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, which works year round to support participants and audiences coming to the Fringe.
If you have purchased your membership as a one-off, this will be active as soon as you have completed payment. When you log in, you will notice that the login symbol in the top right-hand corner of tickets.edfringe.com has turned purple, indicating your status as a Fringe Friend. If this is showing as blue instead of purple, please contact the Friends team.
Fringe shows have the option to take part in the Friends 2for1 ticket offer at the point of registration – you'll be able to see which shows have signed up by looking out for the purple Friends icon on their edfringe.com listing (you can also filter your search results to see all the shows that are part of the offer).
Once you've chosen a participating show, select two full-price tickets – a discount to the cost of one full-price ticket will be applied at the checkout stage.
- The Friends 2for1 ticket offer cannot be used in conjunction with other 2for1 ticket offers or concessions.
- The Friends 2for1 ticket offer applies only to those shows which have chosen to take part, not every show in the programme.
- Friends, Good Friends and Close Friends can use the 2for1 ticket offer once per show run, ie they are entitled to one free ticket when purchased alongside a full-price ticket.
- Best Friends and Patrons can use the 2for1 ticket twice per show run, ie they are entitled to two free tickets when purchased alongside two full-price tickets.
Close Friends, Best Friends, and Patrons will receive a copy of the programme as part of their membership by 12 June, so long as they have signed up by 12 May. Friends and Good Friends can use the discount code in their welcome letter to receive 50% off delivery costs and order a programme for 12 June when we launch orders.
The membership card and lanyard is available on a collection-only basis from the Fringe Box Office in 180 High Street from July. Friends can pick up one membership card per membership.
In addition to being a Fringe Friend, you're also welcome to sign up as a member of the Fringe Society. Our members are responsible for electing the Board of Directors, adopting the accounts and appointing the auditors each year. Membership costs £5 a year to cover administration costs.
Terms & conditions
We have a full list of terms and conditions on our website, but there are a few key points to bear in mind:
- Purchasing via Direct Debit is the cheapest way to buy a Friends membership.
- We will aim to send all Close Friends, Best Friends and Patrons a copy of the official Fringe programme by launch date, dependent on date of sign-up. Friends and Good Friends can use their discount code to order a programme to be delivered to their door for launch.
- Some Friend tiers are eligible to receive invitations to special events during the Fringe – these events may be subject to capacity limits and / or safety restrictions.
- Friend memberships are non-refundable.
Check our complete terms and conditions for more info, or call +44 (0)131 226 0036 to speak to the Friends team.