Keep it Fringe fund 2025 now open for applications!

The fund will award bursaries of up to £2,500 to support 180 artists bringing work to Fringe 2025.

Applications for the 2025 Keep it Fringe fund are now open. This is the third year of the Keep it Fringe fund, an initiative to support Fringe artists to realise their professional ambitions, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The Keep it Fringe fund was launched in 2023 by the Fringe Society honorary President Phoebe Waller-Bridge and funded by the Fleabag for Charity campaign, alongside funds donated to the Fringe Society by Edinburgh Gin.

To apply, click here. 

James Farley, writer and performer of Good Boy and past recipient of the 2024 Keep it Fringe fund, said “I struggle to accurately express the impact of the Keep It Fringe Fund. The trajectory of my career has catapulted into the stratosphere. Before the Fringe, I was an out-of-work actor waiting for the phone to ring, with a play I first wrote 8 years ago sitting in a folder… Now, after a five-star, sold-out run, I am a represented writer in the treatment phase of developing Good Boy for television. If it wasn’t for the fund, we would not have been able to make it and none of this would have happened.

‍As a queer, working-class and neurodivergent writer, this opportunity was literally life changing. My director Sophia Vi, one of the few trans-femme theatre directors in the country, was able to make her Fringe directorial debut as well.”

The Fringe has a vision to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat and the Keep it Fringe fund supports the idea that every artist should have the opportunity to showcase their talent at the Fringe, regardless of their background. 2024’s recipients reflected the diversity and variety that makes up the Fringe, with companies and artists covering nearly every genre in the Fringe programme. In 2024 the Keep it Fringe fund recipients represented a mix of free and ticketed shows with 41% of successful applicants identifying as disabled or with a health condition. More than one in three also came from a working-class background.

Arts Minister, UK Government Sir Chris Bryant said: “New voices, challenging ideas and artists from diverse and varied backgrounds create the healthy ecosystem in which the Fringe thrives.  The Keep it Fringe fund initiative helps hundreds of artists to perform in front of larger audiences and can be a launchpad to future success. We want the arts to be open and accessible to all and projects like this are crucial to breaking down barriers to opportunity to kickstart careers in our cultural and creative industries.”

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “For many artists, the financial challenges of putting on a show can prevent them from coming to the Fringe and I’m immensely proud of the work that has been undertaken to bring the Keep it Fringe fund to life.  My great thanks to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for enabling this project the sustainability to continue into 2025.  With over 700 applications each year, the Keep it Fringe fund allows the Edinburgh Fringe to be more accessible to artists from all backgrounds.”

What is the fund? 
The fund available for 2025 is £450,000, which will be made up of 180 awards of £2,500. The remaining funds will be used to deliver support services for the successful artists through our Artist Services team throughout the year and at festival-time, as well as fees for assessors and administration.

Bursaries are designed to help artists on their Fringe 2024 journey and can be spent on any costs associated with their show. The Fringe Society will award £2,000 of the fund up front, with a further £500 to support admin and reporting, to be paid after the Fringe upon receipt of reporting.

Who is the fund for? 
The fund is open to any UK-based individual artist or company who is bringing work to Fringe 2025.

Eligibility criteria: 

• Your show must be registered in the 2025 Fringe (registration will be confirmed before funds are paid, but does not have to be completed when you apply – the show must however be registered by 01 August to receive the funds).
• The applicant must be a UK-based artist or company, or applying on behalf of a UK-based artist or company.
• The show (specifically its run at Fringe if part of a larger project) must not be in receipt of any Arts Council England, Arts Council NI, Arts Council of Wales or Creative Scotland funding.
• The applicant must be presenting live and in-person performance.

What’s the deadline to submit an application? 
Applications must be submitted through the SmartyGrants website by 12:00 GMT Wednesday 12 February If you’d like to apply using an alternative method, please get in touch with artists@edfringe.com as soon as possible so we can explore which options would work best.

How do artists apply? 
Alike previous year’s, the Fringe Society anticipates there will be an excess demand for funding which will require assessments to be made. The application will ask the following questions:

• Tell us about your show and what stage you’re at in your plans for Fringe 2025. (200 words max)
• Tell us about your budget and how this funding will help. (200 words max)
• Tell us what you hope to achieve in Fringe 2025 and your ambitions for your show. (200 words max)
• We want everyone to be able to apply and have recorded an online information session to support those who don’t have experience of applying for funding. The application itself has been kept as simple as possible and access support is available where needed.

Applications open 20 January and close at 12:00GMT on 12 February. Award recipients notified week commencing 03 March.

What are the assessment criteria: 

• Applications should demonstrate how the show captures the defiant spirit of the Fringe, taking advantage of the Fringe as a unique platform to tell untold stories.
• The fund aims to support professional performers / artists / creators or individuals with professional ambitions for their work who can demonstrate an existing level of planning for Fringe 2024.
• Applicants should set out clear ambitions for the future life of the work being funded and / or their career.
• While no budget is required and there are no ineligible costs, the details of the spend should be clear, specific and informed costs relating to bringing your show and the value added by the funding.
• Funding will be prioritised to artists who don’t have an existing high profile and artists who face barriers to funding / the arts more generally.

Applicants will be assessed by external specialists to identify those that demonstrate the greatest need and the boldest ideas. Should the assessment panel identify a greater number of applications deserving of funding above the 180 bursaries available, we reserve the right to apply a random selection method to the pool of those successful applications.

How can artists find out more? 
The Fringe Society team hosted an online webinar on Wednesday the 22 January at 12:00GMT, where artists had the opportunity to find out more and ask questions. You can watch the recording below; if you have any further questions, please get in touch with our Artist Services team on artists@edfringe.com.