logo
Shedinburgh festival returns with new 100-seat venue at Edinburgh fringe

Shedinburgh festival returns with new 100-seat venue at Edinburgh fringe

The Guardian07-05-2025
When the 2020 Edinburgh fringe was cancelled due to Covid-19, producer Francesca Moody and theatre-maker Gary McNair unveiled a DIY solution: Shedinburgh. Theatre, comedy and music shows were put on in a variety of sheds and streamed live to an audience online. The digital initiative proved as popular as it was canny and returned the following year. Now, the Shedinburgh festival is set to be resurrected this summer for a series of in-person, one-off performances in a new 100-seat venue in Edinburgh.
Jayde Adams, Mark Watson and Ivo Graham are among the standups taking part, along with fringe favourites Sh!t Theatre, the Guilty Feminist host Deborah Frances-White, Marlow and Moss (the composing duo behind hit musical Six) and recent Olivier award-winner Maimuna Memon. There will be Shed Shows (intimate 'unplugged' versions of hit fringe productions from the past), Shed Originals (using previously unseen scripts by emerging writers) and ShedX Talks (free panels and Q&As), as well as late-night music events. The venue will be open during the day as a cafe and bar. Tickets including pay-what-you-can options will be released later this month when the full 'shed-ule' is announced as well as further details about the venue including its location.
Taking a show to Edinburgh is a financially risky endeavour for performers who are often required to pay the venue a minimum guarantee. Shedinburgh will instead be giving a guaranteed fee to each act as well as covering their travel and accommodation expenses.
Moody, whose Edinburgh hits include Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, said: 'In recent years it has become more challenging than ever to bring a show to the festival and for artists and audiences it feels increasingly inaccessible. Shedinburgh is our attempt to level the playing field; it's our love letter to the fringe, and something that we hope sits in conversation with the many other brilliant initiatives working to ensure the festival remains a launchpad for the next generation of gamechanging artists.'
Applications will soon open for Shedinburgh's Shedload of Future Fund, which will distribute money raised from the 2020 and 2021 digital seasons. The fund will award three £5,000 grants to artists making their Edinburgh fringe debut this summer.
Watson said 'it's getting harder and harder for emerging artists to survive [in Edinburgh] or even take the risk of going in the first place. There needs to be a fresh approach to the way the festival works for performers, and that's what Shedinburgh is offering.' Adams, who will be performing a show that is 'more theatrical, more personal and unlike anything I've done before', said Shedinburgh would offer a space that is 'intimate, raw and open to risk'.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Stevenage woman gives unwanted Plushies a new lease of life
Stevenage woman gives unwanted Plushies a new lease of life

BBC News

time30 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Stevenage woman gives unwanted Plushies a new lease of life

A card-shop owner says she wants people to "see cuddly toys in a different light" after launching a scheme to smarten up second-hand Sorrell, 58, was inspired to start the Preloved Plushy Project at her Stevenage shop Cardies after noticing how many were being discarded."I was seeing some going to charity shops, and because they were marked or grubby, the charity shops couldn't do anything with them and had to throw them away," she said."I'm a big recycler and upcycler, so I'm keen to find a new love-life for lots of things – one man's rubbish is another man's treasure," she told the BBC. She explained her secret to restoring the toys so they looked nearly-new."A lot of people make the mistake that they just wash the teddy bear, and it gets all matted," Ms Sorrell said."I wash it and leave it to dry thoroughly, and then use [a] brush to bring it back to fluffiness."I've got labradors, and there's a specific dog brush with very fine pins that teases the undercoat."It's a slicker brush and it does a similar thing with the cuddly toys. Of course, I don't use the same brush that I use on my dog!" Ms Sorrell explained that she had already been able to match up donations with keen owners."We had a couple of lads come in and their mum said they were looking for Super Mario characters," she said."There was a giant sack of washed toys we hadn't sorted, so we rummaged through it and found two Super Marios. They went away very happy!"Another lady tagged them on social media, saying she worked with young people and one would be thrilled to have an Eeyore toy."Funnily enough, an Eeyore appeared the next day in one of our bags, as if by magic."Ms Sorrell hopes people beyond Stevenage will start doing the same thing to prolong the life of soft toys."I'm keen that other people should take this idea up and see cuddly toys in a different light," she said."It's also just presenting them differently – rather than a box of sad-looking teddies in the corner – [to] make them look appealing." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Amy Shark posts bizarre TikTok seeking dinner date while holidaying in Wales
Amy Shark posts bizarre TikTok seeking dinner date while holidaying in Wales

Daily Mail​

time30 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Amy Shark posts bizarre TikTok seeking dinner date while holidaying in Wales

She's not single, but it appears Amy Shark is definitely ready to mingle. The 39-year-old Australian Idol alum took to TikTok this week, inviting company for a dinner date while holidaying in Wales. The video showed the singer standing in front of a Wetherspoons — a popular British pub chain. 'Hi, I'm Amy, and if anyone is in Barry in Wales, I'm just taking myself here for a Sunday roast dinner,' Amy said, pointing out her intended dining destination. Amy appeared to be looking for a date for her Sunday dinner, bizarrely offering her star sign for potential suitors. 'I'm by myself. I'm a Taurus,' she joked before the clip abruptly ended. She captioned the clip: 'Date night?? Anyone,' augmenting the comment with the hashtags: #barry, #date, #solo, #sad, and #f***. The post elicited a flurry of comments from fans, with many commenting they would love to sit down with the Adore hitmaker. 'The flight is way too long unfortunately. I'd be there in a heartbeat,' one fan offered. Another chimed in with a similar: 'Dinner with you. Sounds awesome. But stuck here in WA godammit.' Others were quick to point out that Amy's Welsh holiday destination of Barry was the Welsh coastal town that provided the setting for popular 2000s James Corden comedy Gavin and Stacey. 'Gavin and Stacy! Just find Nessa and ask her "what's occurring",' one follower wrote, referencing the hit BBC comedy. Another was quick to point out that Barry was also the birthplace of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. But any hopes of a romantic Sunday roast with Amy were dashed. The eight-time ARIA winner has been married to husband Shane Billings since 2013. Amy's unusual post follows a recent emotional TikTok video that raised concern among fans, in which she revealed a deeply personal family rift. Posting to the social media platform in June, Amy shocked followers as she opened up about her strained family relationships. Amy said that she doesn't speak to her parents at all – and that the only person she truly cared about has since passed away. 'I don't think anyone on here actually realises just how f**king crazy I could be,' she began in the raw video, staring directly into the camera. 'I don't talk to my parents. Not my mum or my dad. Not even like … like, no one,' she continued. 'The only person that I cared about is dead now. And like, my brother's... we're fine, but he's six years younger than me. So he's not telling me what to do.' Amy then appeared to spiral further as she confessed: 'I could be going f**king crazy, crazy. Like I could do anything. I'm not gonna disappoint anyone.' Reflecting on her upbringing, she added: 'My parents had me when they were like 19 and 20. I found videos - I know what the f**k they were doing.' She concluded the emotional clip with a plea for recognition: 'I just think I need a little more respect from people to be like, wow, Amy turned out pretty good.' The post quickly amassed thousands of views and an outpouring of support, with fans flooding the comments to express concern and solidarity. 'Are you okay, Amy?' wrote multiple users, while one added, 'I haven't spoken to my narcissistic psycho parents for over 10 yrs now. Life is so peaceful since I finally deleted them.' Another fan reassured her: 'You are an awesome, talented, most incredible person. Just keep being you.'

Silverstone Festival to display of F1 championship winning cars
Silverstone Festival to display of F1 championship winning cars

BBC News

time30 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Silverstone Festival to display of F1 championship winning cars

A "legendary" Formula 1 team will showcase some of its former world championship winning race cars at a motorsport festival, organisers Silverstone Festival in Northamptonshire, due to be held over the August bank holiday weekend, has announced four cars from the former Norfolk-based Team Lotus will be part of display featuring F1 cars raced by all 34 of the sport's world showcase is part of a special celebration to mark the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Wigley, the event's director, said the display was an "ambitious challenge that no one has ever attempted before". He said: "Now, the star-studded collection is not only nearly complete, but it also features an incredible number of title-winning cars. McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Williams have already confirmed their support for the showcase, contributing title-winning cars driven by illustrious champions including Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Fernando Alonso, Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Team Lotus was founded by Colin Chapman and recorded its first F1 entry in at Hethel, near Norwich, the team counted world champions Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Mario Andretti among its driver Clark was intrinsically linked with Team Lotus in its formative years, winning titles in 1963 and 1965 and the "iconic" Lotus 25/R4 in which he won his first crown will join the display, alongside those driven by Rindt, Fittipaldi and festival will also feature performances from Natasha Bedingfield and Craig David presents Silverstone Festival runs from 22-24 August. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store