Data
Fringe 2026 by the Numbers
A plain-numbers snapshot of the current Fringe programme — genre mix, free vs ticketed shows, ticket prices and the festival’s busiest day — computed directly from the live Edinburgh Festivals Listings API data behind every FringeWiz guide.
Updated 2026-10-29 06:01:02 (London time).
Cite this page
Every figure on this page is computed from the Edinburgh Festivals Listings API and refreshes throughout the day. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite these numbers with a link back to this page (fringewiz.com/stats).
Programme snapshot
Active shows
4,620
Active performances
63,467
Venues
308
Cancelled shows
0
“Active” excludes shows the festival has marked cancelled or deleted in the feed. Cancelled-show count is a schedule fact from the API, not a comment on ticket availability.
Shows by genre
| Genre | Shows | % of programme |
|---|---|---|
| Comedy | 1,871 | 40.5% |
| Theatre | 1,171 | 25.3% |
| Music | 439 | 9.5% |
| Events | 266 | 5.8% |
| Cabaret and Variety | 206 | 4.5% |
| Musicals and Opera | 188 | 4.1% |
| Spoken Word | 168 | 3.6% |
| Children's Shows | 138 | 3% |
| Dance Physical Theatre and Circus | 133 | 2.9% |
| Exhibitions | 40 | 0.9% |
One row per active show, grouped by the genre the listing carries (a show counts once, not once per performance).
Free vs ticketed
Free shows
605 (13.1%)
Ticketed shows
4,015
| Free-circuit operator | Shows |
|---|---|
| PBH Free Fringe | 268 |
| Independent / other free show | 227 |
| Laughing Horse Free Festival | 110 |
A show counts as free only when every one of its active performances is unticketed (show.is_free); a show mixing free and paid performances counts as ticketed. Free-circuit operator is detected from venue/artist naming at sync time.
Ticket prices
Cheapest ticketed price
£1
Median ticket price
£12.8
Highest ticketed price
£130
| Genre | Median ticket price | Ticketed performances |
|---|---|---|
| Comedy | £10 | 23,953 |
| Theatre | £13.5 | 17,319 |
| Music | £15 | 2,649 |
| Exhibitions | £12.8 | 2,392 |
| Cabaret and Variety | £14 | 2,093 |
| Musicals and Opera | £14 | 2,038 |
| Children's Shows | £11.25 | 1,832 |
| Dance Physical Theatre and Circus | £15.5 | 1,641 |
| Events | £15 | 1,194 |
| Spoken Word | £12 | 504 |
Standard adult price (performance.price) for every active ticketed performance, counted once per performance — not deduplicated per show. Concession prices are excluded.
Busiest festival day
Fri 14 Aug carries the most performances: 2,794.
| Festival day | Performances |
|---|---|
| Fri 24 Jul | 1 |
| Sat 25 Jul | 1 |
| Sun 26 Jul | 1 |
| Mon 27 Jul | 1 |
| Tue 28 Jul | 1 |
| Wed 29 Jul | 1 |
| Thu 30 Jul | 1 |
| Fri 31 Jul | 1 |
| Sat 1 Aug | 1 |
| Sun 2 Aug | 1 |
| Mon 3 Aug | 121 |
| Tue 4 Aug | 137 |
| Wed 5 Aug | 795 |
| Thu 6 Aug | 1,432 |
| Fri 7 Aug | 2,342 |
| Sat 8 Aug | 2,623 |
| Sun 9 Aug | 2,561 |
| Mon 10 Aug | 2,504 |
| Tue 11 Aug | 2,591 |
| Wed 12 Aug | 2,546 |
| Thu 13 Aug | 2,722 |
| Fri 14 Aug | 2,794 |
| Sat 15 Aug | 2,784 |
| Sun 16 Aug | 2,359 |
| Mon 17 Aug | 2,105 |
| Tue 18 Aug | 2,258 |
| Wed 19 Aug | 2,523 |
| Thu 20 Aug | 2,711 |
| Fri 21 Aug | 2,751 |
| Sat 22 Aug | 2,725 |
| Sun 23 Aug | 2,286 |
| Mon 24 Aug | 2,217 |
| Tue 25 Aug | 2,413 |
| Wed 26 Aug | 2,524 |
| Thu 27 Aug | 2,629 |
| Fri 28 Aug | 2,659 |
| Sat 29 Aug | 2,592 |
| Sun 30 Aug | 2,103 |
| Mon 31 Aug | 650 |
Performance count per festival day (05:00 London rollover — a 00:30 show belongs to the previous day). Ties for busiest day are broken in favour of the earliest date.
How long shows run
One-night-only shows
704
Longest run (performances)
725
| Run length | Shows |
|---|---|
| 1 performance (one-night-only) | 704 |
| 2–5 performances | 778 |
| 6–15 performances | 1,398 |
| 16–25 performances | 1,458 |
| 26+ performances | 282 |
Bucketed by each active show’s total active-performance count across the festival.