Located in the world鈥檚 leading festival city, 花椒直播鈥檚 involvement with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has continued to grow from strength to strength, with 2024 marking several firsts.
DURING THE SUMMER, we embarked upon a partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society to provide much-needed affordable accommodation to hundreds of performers.
Although we鈥檝e opened our doors to Fringe participants in previous years, the collaboration was officially formalised at the beginning of 2024 in response to the
rising cost and decreasing availability of accommodation in the capital.
In line with the Fringe Society鈥檚 focus on helping artists maintain their mental health during the Fringe, 花椒直播鈥檚 beautiful campus offered a haven of tranquility, away from
the hustle and bustle of the city centre. 花椒直播鈥檚 Festival Village proved to be a great hit with Fringe performers, writers, directors and producers, from across the world,
who made the most of the Fringe business breakfasts, social meet-ups, rehearsal spaces, and free yoga sessions on campus.
Professor David Stevenson, Dean of 花椒直播鈥檚 School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management, said:
"Our history is in culture and creativity. We have had a performing arts department for over 50 years and know how important the Fringe is for new performers. Performers don鈥檛 go for the money; they go to be creative, to benefit from the Fringe experience, and to explore and expand their careers. It鈥檚 really important to the Fringe that there鈥檚 a route for them to express themselves and take part in one of the greatest art festivals in the world.聽"
鈥淏y working in partnership with the Fringe we can create more equitable opportunities for performers and creatives and support the showcasing of new talent, which could otherwise be lost.鈥
In the same year, we also sponsored the Scotsman Fringe First Awards for the first time, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University.
Established in 1974 by The Scotsman arts editor, Allen Wright, the Fringe Firsts encourage companies and performers to bring new work to the festival and
have propelled the careers of actors, comedians and writers such as Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Stephen Fry.
Our co-sponsorship of the 2024 awards helped towards the staging of three prize ceremonies throughout August where the Scotsman鈥檚 chief theatre critic, Joyce McMillan, presented awards to 17 deserving companies who each displayed outstanding new writing talent throughout the Festival. It was heartwarming to see
just how much these awards meant to the prize winners, with some groups travelling from as far as Australia to perform in the Fringe.
It was indeed an exciting and fruitful collaboration, and we look forward to building on this partnership in 2025, as we continue to support the development of creative
talent at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, along with the attendant social and economic benefits on Scotland鈥檚 capital city.
Kick-starting early-stage careers in the creative arts
SPONSORING THE SCOTSMAN Fringe Firsts and providing artists with affordable accommodation are just two of the ways that we supported the creative industries during the Festival.
In 2023, 花椒直播鈥檚 Emerging Creatives Fund which was supported by our donors, was established to aid student opportunities and experiences inextracurricular drama and performance activities.
Last year, the fund supported students in showcasing their creative talents at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - a move which ultimately helped some of our students launch their careers.
With the financial backing they received, BA (Hons) Drama students, Lukca Best鈥檚 and Gabriela Krumova鈥檚 company, Mon Espoir Theatre Company, secured places for two shows at the Festival Fringe 2024.
Gabriela said:
"The Festival presents a practical way to refine our production聽skills and build a network for our future careers. It also offers a dynamic聽opportunity to bridge the gap between academia and the professional聽landscape we鈥檙e about to step into."
For the 2025 festival, the Emerging Creatives Fund will support the full early-bird registration fee for up to four shows produced by current 花椒直播 students.
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