Hundreds of rooms in QMU's Musselburgh campus

Organisers of the Edinburgh Fringe have signed a deal with the city’s Queen Margaret University to provide accommodation for hundreds of festival participants.

The partnership will also create a ‘festival village’ featuring a café, free outdoor yoga classes, rehearsal space, printing and wifi facilities, parking and storage.

Private single rooms will be available as part of three and six-bedroom flats, and are priced from £269.50 a week.

The rooms are on the outskirts of Edinburgh, near Musselburgh, which the Fringe Society says could help artists maintain their mental health during the Fringe as it is away from the  bustle of the festival.

Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, pictured, 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. 

‘We are grateful to the team at QMU for working with us on this imaginative collaboration. While encouraging, we know this development won’t magically solve all the accommodation issues faced by artists and venues. 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.’

An  affordable accommodation portal on edfringe.com has re-opened for 2024, including private rooms offered via Theatre Digs Booker.

The accommodation is a six-minute train ride into Waverley Station, and there are buses approximately every 10 minutess’

Published: 5 Feb 2024