Queen Margaret University
Queen Margaret University
02/05/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/05/2024 08:37
QMU to provide accommodation for hundreds at Festival Fringe
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QMU to provide accommodation for hundreds at Festival Fringe
By Press Office05 February 2024
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is pleased to announce a new partnership with Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh (QMU) that will provide accommodation for hundreds of Fringe participants as part of a new 'festival village' during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024.
As well as accommodation, participants will have access to an onsite café, free outdoor yoga classes, rehearsal space, printing and wifi facilities, parking and storage, plus Fringe Society services and events for socialising and networking.
In alignment with the Fringe Society's focus on helping artists maintain their mental health during the Fringe, the QMU campus is located on the outskirts of Edinburgh, near Musselburgh, giving artists an opportunity to escape the bustle of the festival while having access to regular train, bus and night bus connections to the centre of town.
Affordable accommodation
The private (lockable) single rooms are available as part of three and six-bedroom flats, and are priced from £269.50pppw.
The partnership with QMU is one of several measures the Fringe Society is pursuing in response to the rising cost and decreasing availability of accommodation in the city.
The long-running affordable accommodation portal on edfringe.com has already re-opened for 2024 with accommodation options from other providers in the city, alongside private rental options facilitated by the Fringe Society's partner platform, Theatre Digs Booker.
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: "We are very excited about the prospect of a festival village at the Queen Margaret University campus - not just for the accommodation it offers, but for the opportunity it presents artists to find their Fringe community, to meet and connect with each other and add another layer of value to their Fringe experience.
"While encouraging, we know this development won't magically solve all the accommodation issues faced by artists. However, alongside our other ongoing efforts to secure accommodation options, while also lobbying on artists' behalf with local and national government, it represents a very positive step in the right direction."
"As specialists in creative arts and cultural management, we are delighted to support the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with much needed modern, good quality, affordable accommodation. Festival participants who choose to stay in QMU's accommodation can expect to benefit from excellent transport links into the centre of Edinburgh. It takes just six minutes train ride from Musselburgh Station - located immediately next to the University - into Waverley Station, and we have a regular bus service coming onto campus approximately ever 10 minutes. Visitors can enjoy affordable rooms in shared flats in a safe and attractive campus environment with easy access to Scotland's capital, as well as the beautiful East Lothian coast and countryside."
Sarah Whigham, Head of Commercial Services at Queen Marget University
Notes to Editor
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from 02 - 26 August 2024. For enquiries and interview requests, please contact [email protected].
About the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society: The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the charity that underpins the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe. It was established in 1958 by a group of artists to provide central services for the festival and ensure that it stays true to its founding purpose of inclusion and welcome to all. We exist to support and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe; to provide information and assistance to audiences; and to celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world.
Based on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Society has a small team of staff who work year-round to assist all the artists and audiences who make the festival one of the best loved performing arts events on the planet. In 2022, as part of the Fringe's 75th anniversary, the Fringe Society launched a new collaborative vision and set of values, and made a series of commitments to become more inclusive, fair and sustainable. The vision is "to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat".
Our three values will guide the behaviours and decisions of everyone involved with the Fringe: celebrate performing arts, be open to all and look out for each other. The Society will live by them, champion them and uphold them where necessary.