The Edinburgh Festival Fringe will have a presence in St Andrew Square this summer after all.
In a welcome, late-stage pivot following the recent Princes Street fire, Assembly Festival has announced it will relocate two of its primary outdoor venues to the New Town garden. The move will ensure that 17 affected artists and companies will still be able to perform this August, despite severe disruption to the city’s transport infrastructure.
The move brings temporary festival structures back to the historic garden just months after the high-profile regulatory blockade of The Famous Spiegeltent—a development bound to frustrate local heritage groups and civic watchdogs who believed they had finally banished commercial Fringe operations from the space for 2026.
The emergency relocation comes after civic investigations revealed that traffic diversions on Princes Street mean the standard festival road closures on George Street cannot go ahead. Faced with the sudden inability to build on the tarmac, Assembly scrambled to transport its outdoor operations to the grass of St Andrew Square with just over a week to go before performances begin. (All this, simply because the City Council refuses to bulldoze a burned-out husk in the middle of an architecturally despoiled street – I despair, and digress…)
A New Town Hub Reborn
The relocation will see Assembly erect two temporary structures in the southeast corner of the square from 6 August until 30 August:
- Bijou: A Spiegeltent-style venue. (David Bates will be watching)
- Front Room: A contemporary container venue.
The two structures will be accompanied by a temporary bar, box office, and dedicated audience dwell space. Assembly plans to cultivate a vibrant garden atmosphere, allowing festival-goers a space to relax and socialise before and after showtimes.
Crucially, Assembly confirmed that all scheduled indoor programming at the main Assembly Rooms on George Street will proceed exactly as originally planned, operating alongside its own dedicated box office and bar.
Pivoting in the Face of Adversity
William Burdett-Coutts, Artistic Director at Assembly Festival, acknowledged the profound pressure the timeline has placed on the production.
“The fire on Princes Street has had, and will continue to have, a significant effect on city centre businesses and residents,” Burdett-Coutts said. “Following the subsequent investigations, it became clear that the usual Festival road closures Assembly Festival operates on George Street wouldn’t be possible for this year’s Fringe season.”
“This has had a significant impact on our artists with only a week to go until their shows kick off, and we are working to support and minimise disruption for them,” he added, praising city partners for working quickly to approve the site pivot. “It is extremely positive news that all 17 of these shows will still be able to go ahead.”
The emergency rescue mission required intense coordination between the operator, the City of Edinburgh Council, and Essential Edinburgh, the capital’s central business improvement district.
“This has had a significant impact on our artists with only a week to go until their shows kick off, and we are working to support and minimise disruption for them,” he added, praising city partners for working quickly to approve the site pivot. “It is extremely positive news that all 17 of these shows will still be able to go ahead.”
Roddy Smith, Chief Executive of Essential Edinburgh, emphasised the economic and cultural importance of maintaining a festival footprint in the area. “Once it was clear that George Street could not be closed this year due to the fire, it was vital for all parties that we did everything we could to move the planned activity to another venue in the New Town to ensure the buzz and excitement of August remained,” Smith stated.
The Relocated Programme: Bijou and Front Room Lineup
The cross-genre bill moving to the square features high-profile theatre, family shows, and comedy cabaret.
The Spiegeltent-style Bijou will host Frisky’s Remix Roulette, classic theatre piece Scaramouche Jones, 70s Jukebox by The 60 Four, 1954: Ella, Etta, Eartha, Best of Burlesque, In Pour Taste: A Comedy Wine Tasting Experience, Midsummer!, and Captivate Theatre’s Smashing Shakespeare: Brave Macbeth.
Performer Miss Frisky commented on the rapid adaptation: “Orchestrating a move like this so quickly after the Princes Street fire is a massive testament to everyone involved. I’m thrilled that Frisky’s Remix Roulette has found such a brilliant new home in St Andrew Square.”
Meanwhile, the Front Room container will host nine productions, including A Haunted House, The Van Gogh Shogh, Arachne / Athena, The Problem, A Play on Words, 44 Minutes, Cricket & The Freebugs, Becoming Dr Ruth, and Ludwig: Unfinished Business.
Practical Information and Tickets for Festival-Goers
Assembly has confirmed that all tickets previously purchased for the George Street versions of these shows remain fully valid for the new St Andrew Square location. Ticket holders do not need to rebook and will be contacted directly by their point of sale with updated venue routing details.
The addition of St Andrew Square marks Assembly’s seventh official venue hub for its 45th Fringe season, joining George Square Gardens, Assembly Rooms, Assembly Hall, Assembly Roxy, Dance Base, and the newly acquired Checkpoint space for Shedinburgh.
Tickets for the rescheduled St Andrew Square programme are available via the Assembly Festival and Edinburgh Fringe box offices – link below.
Featured Image: Assembly George Square Listings Board
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