HOW IT WORKS

The Fringe programme is thousands of shows in a flat A to Z list. We make it usable: every 2026 show ranked by signal (not alphabet), tools to plan your days around travel and sell-outs, and a graph of who's worked with whom so you can discover through people.

We are not the box office. We don't sell tickets and we're not affiliated with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. We link you to the official edfringe.com to book.

• Discover: search, or use the filters (genre, style, theme, price, family, critics' picks, hot tickets). Re-sort by Top Rated, Most Reviewed, Most Buzz or A to Z.
• Save: tap the bookmark on any show to add it to your plan. Everything is stored in your browser, no account needed.
• Plan: the Plan page turns your bookmarks into days (more below).
• Map and Graph: see shows on a map of Edinburgh, or explore the collaboration graph.

You book on edfringe.com, not here. Every TICKETS or BOOKbutton opens that show's official ticket page in a new tab, where you pick a date and pay.

We show live availability(on sale, selling fast, sold out, 2-for-1, preview) so you know before you click. The date and seat selection happen on edfringe's side. We can't pre-select a performance for you, because their basket is server-side and isn't encoded in a link.

Tip: plan here first, then take your list (the planner's shareable summary) and book the dates in one go.

Bookmark shows, then on the Plan page:

• Pick a date for each show from its real performance calendar (sold-out dates are marked).
• Auto-plan builds a sensible day from your bookmarks. Gap-fill slots more in around what you've set.
• Travel-aware: we show the walking time and spare minutes between consecutive shows, and warn when a turnaround is too tight (Fringe shows run late).
• Lock a day to pin it so auto-plan won't reshuffle it.
• Map your day to see the route. The shareable summary gives you a list to book.

Most 2026 shows aren't reviewed yet, so we predict quality from everything we doknow. A show's score blends:

• Reputation prior: a Bayesian-shrunk average of the act's past critic star-ratings (recent years weighted more), so one lucky 5★ doesn't dominate and a no-history act sits at the global average.
• The people, when the act is new: if the performers have a track record from other shows, that carries over via the graph.
• Longevity, venue, awards: returning productions, a strong room, and past Fringe wins all nudge it.
• Buzz: editorial "picks of the programme" from outlets, graded by how many independent sources.
• Audience reviews: star-less write-ups from past runs, sentiment-scored (you'll see "N audience reviews · X% positive").
• Live signals: page views, ticket-presses and demand tilt the top of the list in real time.

We only show a star when an act has at least 2 past reviews, because a single review is noise, not a track record. Unreviewed shows we have real signal for are marked ⚡ PICK. Ones we don't are UNREVIEWED (still ranked, but honestly flagged). The star reflects a pasttrack record, never this year's unjudged run.

CRITICS' PICK means an outlet tipped it. HOT TICKETS means selling fast or recently sold out.

The Fringe is a web of collaborators. Start from a show and we draw it out: the show, then the people in it, then their other shows, this year and across past Fringes. Tap any node to re-centre and keep walking the web.

The Whole Fringeview force-lays the biggest connected clusters, so troupes and companies emerge as constellations and lines are shared performers. Past-year shows render faded; current shows are clickable through to their page. Duplicate listings (a show appearing under both edfringe and its sister site) are collapsed to one node so links don't dead-end.

Programme and live availability come from the official edfringe and edfest listings. Critic ratings and editorial picks come from public reviews and preview round-ups. Audience reviews come from past Fringe runs. Edfringe is the source of truth: where a show is listed on both, the edfringe listing wins.

Found something wrong? It's an independent project, so rough edges are expected, and reviews and ratings refresh as harvests run.