As the summer and this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe approaches, theatre makers and fans attending the 2023 festival will be delighted to hear the app is returning—and with new features. Co-sponsored by Playbill, the app will drop in late July ahead of the August festival, which has already announced nearly 3,000 shows.
The app will include the ability to view and search full show listings, book tickets on the go, and use a "nearby now" feature to find shows starting soon near an attendee's location within Edinburgh. As the festival moves towards fully e-ticketing, e-ticket QR codes will be stored within the app for seamless integration with a user's show schedule each day. Users will also be able to buy tickets to multiple shows in one transaction, as well as enable notification alerts that a user's next show is about to start. Lastly, the app will feature a "Shake to Search" function that will provide a random show suggestion for users by shaking their phones.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society used feedback from audiences, artists, participants, and venues after the 2022 festival to develop new features for this year's app.
READ: What is the Fringe Society? A Guide to Edinburgh Fringe's Support System
"Developing an app required to support the scale and complexity of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes a significant period of time and resource, and we are delighted to be able to share the exciting features, which will be launched within the app for this year’s festival," said Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Shona McCarthy. "We recognize the app is a key tool for Fringe artists, with many audience members using it to explore new ideas and performances they may not have yet experienced, and the 'nearby now' functionality is particularly useful for performers who offer free shows within the program."
Users will be able to submit feedback throughout the festival on the new app to help guide its development for future years. Developing the 2023 app was made possible through support from Scottish Enterprise, and new sponsors Playbill and Synatec. The Fringe Society has been working with Australian-based agency equ on developing this year's new app, with ideas developing already for further expansion of the app in 2024 and beyond.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, offering thousands of shows every August. This year, Playbill will be going to Edinburgh, Scotland for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along with us this spring and summer as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
