Performing at Pleasance Edinburgh

The information below is for reference only and submissions for the 2024 festival will open in mid-December. 

You can express and interest in performing in our 2024 programme here and when submissions go live we will let you know. 

To keep up to date with artist development news and opportunities, please sign up to our artist newsletter and twitter - both can be found here. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Join Us

We welcome work from anyone with a good idea, passionately believing that the best new and unknown names should stand side-by-side, in the same programme, with the most established acts performing today. The draw of a big name in one year has so often heralded the discovery of the next. As a not-for-profit charity, we believe in sharing risks and in placing a value on the arts. We do not rent rooms - instead we carefully curate a rich and varied programme from the great volume of submissions we receive.

Pleasance programmes a wide range of work across comedy, text based and physical theatre, and family and children's work. We also programme circus, dance and cabaret, but careful consideration is needed to ensure we can meet your technical and space requirements. You can find information about our spaces here. 

We prioritise new work coming to the Festival for the first time, often but not exclusively as a World or UK premiere. We often programme returning shows who have been successful in our programme previously. On occasion we will consider a show that had a successful run in another venue in a previous year. We rarely programme revivals or amateur productions of established texts.

About Submissions

As we programme on a rolling basis, there is no formal deadline but you are advised to apply as soon as possible, as slots are often provisionally filled early on. We tend to be fully programmed by the Fringe's printed programme deadline in early April.

Please keep in mind that because our final programme depends on the overall artistic and technical balance of the shows in each space, some slots cannot be finalised until March or April. We will do our very best to keep you informed about the status of your applications and make decisions as early as possible, but please be patient. Please contact us if you urgently require a decision or if you no longer wish to be considered.

You can find out about the accessibility of our spaces from an artist perspective in our Artist Access Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

A guide to some of the most common questions about bringing a show to the Pleasance in Edinburgh and the programming process can be found here. 

Access

In addition to a written submission, you are also able to submit a video or audio submission through the form. You can find a pdf version of the form here to help you prepare your answers, please note that this is for reference only. If you have any additional access requirements, please get in touch on [email protected] or call 0207 619 6868 to discuss how we can best facilitate your submission.

To find out more about the accessibility of our sites and venues from an artist perspective, you can find our artist access guide here.