Edinburgh Fringe to launch 'festival village' rooms for participants
- Queen Margaret University near Musselburgh will become a new 'festival village' for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024
- Located a six-minute train ride away from Waverley Station, campus rooms will be available to performers for £269.50 per week
- The 'festival village' will have free outdoor yoga classes, a rehearsal space, printing and wi-fi facilities
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society have announced a new partnership with Queen Margaret University to provide accommodation for hundreds of Fringe participants as part of a new 'festival village' during the 2024 festival. Rooms will be priced at £269.50 per week.
QMU is located a six-minute train ride away from Waverley Station.
The society explains: "As well as accommodation, participants will have access to an onsite café, free outdoor yoga classes, rehearsal space, printing and wi-fi facilities, parking and storage, plus Fringe Society services and events for socialising and networking. In alignment with the Fringe Society's focus on helping artists maintain their mental health during the Fringe, the QMU campus is located on the outskirts of Edinburgh, near Musselburgh, giving artists an opportunity to escape the bustle of the festival while having access to regular train, bus and night bus connections to the centre of town."
The private single rooms are available as part of three and six-bedroom flats, and are priced from £269.50 per person per week.
The organisers say: "The partnership with QMU is one of several measures the Fringe Society is pursuing in response to the rising cost and decreasing availability of accommodation in the city, working in tandem with the Fringe community of venues, producers and artists. The long-running affordable accommodation portal on edfringe.com has already re-opened for 2024 with accommodation options from other providers in the city, alongside private rental options facilitated by the Fringe Society's partner platform, Theatre Digs Booker."
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, says: "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 as we explore longer-term opportunities to work with both the academics and the students at QMU.
"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."
Sarah Whigham, Head of Commercial Services at Queen Margaret University, said: "As specialists in creative arts and cultural management, we are delighted to support the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with much-needed modern, good quality, affordable accommodation. Festival participants who choose to stay in QMU's accommodation can expect to benefit from excellent transport links into the centre of Edinburgh. It takes just six minutes' train ride from Musselburgh Station - located immediately next to the University - into Waverley Station, and we have a regular bus service coming onto campus approximately every 10 minutes. Visitors can enjoy affordable rooms in shared flats in a safe and attractive campus environment with easy access to Scotland's capital, as well as the beautiful East Lothian coast and countryside."
Participants can find out more about the offer from the EdFringe accommodation portal
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