It was great to be back in 2022!
And we were finally bringing a full programme of shows to Edinburgh after two years of covid interuptions... with art, entertainment and laughter coming to you from venues around Edinburgh.
Our new programme for 2023 will be out in the Spring - but you can still browse last year's shows on this site to see what we had at last year's Free Festival.
Laughing Horse Free Festival is one of the biggest comedy producers at the Fringe - and don't forget we also have cabaret, theatre, music, children's shows and more.
In 2022 we had thousands of performances of over 300 shows across our venues, raging from the very best in new talent through to big name shows. Just what a Fringe should be!
Would you like Free Fest shows in YOUR venue?
If you have a venue in central Edinburgh, and would like to host Fringe shows we are always looking for extra venues for future years - click here to find out more about all of the benefits of hosting shows.
Best in Free: Best of the Fringe
With award winners and nominees, over many years we've had critically acclaimed Fringes, alongside a bucket-load of four and five-star reviewed shows.
This means our shows are free and also some of the best of the Fringe - while we allow performers and audiences experience the freedom too, with a chance to experiment and enjoy, just without the huge costs! Just what the Fringe should be!
'Free & Unticketed' and 'Pay What you Can' shows - how show entry works this year
This year our shows are either 'Free & Unticketed' or 'Pay What You Can' depending on how the performers have chosen to run their shows. This is how it works:
Free & Unticketed: Entry to a show is first-come, first served at the venue - just turn up and then donate to the show in the collection at the end.
Pay What You Can: For these shows you can book a ticket to guarantee entry and choose your price from the Fringe Box Office, up to 30 mins before a show. After that all remaining space is free at the venue on a first-come, first-served bases. Donations for walk-ins at the end of the show.
As always 100% of the ticket price or donations for each shows goes directly to the performer, which helps them benefit as much as possible from what audiences can give to them, after a tough couple of years for performers and show producers.
653 Performances, 62 Shows
In 2019 we had over 9,000 performances of 400 shows... and then COVID happened!
In 2020, we kept the Free Festival going online, and we were so happy to be back in venues for 2021 - even with a much smaller programme of just over 650 performances of 62 shows...
And then we were back and pulling out all the stops in 2022 for an amazing Free Fringe Festival with no more government restrictions... We look forward to making it even bigger in August 2023 - it's going to be huge!!!
Running the Free Festival costs a lot of Money
Some of this money is recouped through sponsorship & advertising. If you would like to contribute and help keep these venues free for performers and audiences click here