This article was previously posted to the Durham Free Fringe website (yes, we have a proper website now), but a copy of the text is here for the benefit of anyone still looking for updates here.

After a successful launch, we are delighted to announce that programming has begun for our second year. Here’s how it’s going to work:

About the Free Fringe

The “Free Fringe” concept originated in Edinburgh. Most venues at the Edinburgh Fringe were pop-up theatre spaces, fully equipped with stages, sound and lighting. Whilst great things could be achieved on these small stages, demand was at a premium, and many artists struggled to find a venue, or afford a venue, or both. Then organisations like PBH and Laughing Horse recognised that, for many performers, you only need a room and an audience. Without these budget overheads, the events could be both free to take part in and free to watch, with artist income coming entirely from audience donations.

Although the Free Fringe was originally for aspiring stand-up comedians, the scope has since grown wider. Some successful comedians have remained with the free fringe, storytelling, poetry and music have found homes there, and even theatre has been known to work. Established acts have often used the free fringe as a launch pad for new experimental work, but polished performances can also be found there. There’s a whole world of possibilities, and this is what we’re trying to being to Durham.

In 2026, Durham Free Fringe once again runs parallel to Durham Fringe on Wednesday 29th July to Sunday 2nd August. Our primary base will be the Holy GrAle, but we intend to reach out to other spaces to accommodate whatever interest we receive.

Like the Free Fringe in Edinburgh, you should not expect performance spaces to the same spec as the more commercial venues, but as we both technical backgrounds, we can go above and beyond support normally offered in free fringe spaces. Microphones, sound operation/design and projectors are all possible within reason. However, things such as lighting plots, blackouts or complex sets are definitely out. You are advised to have a plan in place that makes minimal use of tech, and treat anything we provide as optional extras.

Scheduling works similar to conventional fringe shows, with most acts being around an hour. For shorter acts, we will look to amalgamate them into a mixed-bill event, with our headline event, Just Off The Bailey Banter, taking stand-up sets and more.

There is no charge or deposit to take part in Durham Free Fringe – we can do this thanks the the kind support of the venues that host us. Audiences are invited to donate money at the end, which goes entirely to the performer.

We will be doing some festival-wide publicity, through posters, flyers and social media, but, like most fringe venues, we cannot guarantee an audience. So we encourage our artists to publicise their own acts. We are happy to help distribute any posters or flyers we receive from you, and propagate social media publicity (we are currently on Instagram and Bluesky).

And finally: We are not trying to compete with Durham Fringe. We are adding to the festival atmosphere that Durham Fringe did such a good job starting, but our event is very different. We have a different offering for artists and draw a different audience, and it our aspiration to add to Durham Fringe, not compete with it.

And that sums us up. If this appeals to you, read on.

What’s changed for 2026

We kept our inaugural year small and manageable, so we expect most of you to be new to us. However, for those you joined us last year, we’re doing a few things differently this time. Our key changes are:

• We are going to be programming further in advance this year. Last year, we opened programming in April so that acts did not need to commit months in advance – but, for a number of reasons, this created more problems than it solved. This time, we are setting a deadline on the 31st March for applications, after which we will start scheduling. This is a “soft” deadline and we will still consider applications after this date if we have space, but we will prioritise applications received before this date.
• Last year, we didn’t go out of our way to encourage applications from Durham Fringe hopefuls, but we ended up with some crossover anyway … and we decided we liked it. So this year, we are going to be a lot more accommodating of artists applying to both us and Durham Fringe. Our programming schedule takes into account Durham Fringe’s schedule, and you are welcome to apply to us if your show doesn’t get a slot at Durham Fringe. The one thing we won’t do is programme a show also running at Durham Fringe – there are too many problems to make that doable.
• We have an application form this year. We like to keep the process as easy as possible, and last year we did it all through informal emails. However, there’s certain things we need to establish early, such as when you are available and what tech support you need. We don’t want to put any off with unnecessarily complex application processes, so we’re open to suggestions on whether this approach is the right balance.
• We are taking a different approach to venues this year. The Holy Grale remains our key hub, but we are looking to take on other spaces as needed to meet demand. We hope to be in a position to announce more venues soon, but this is an experiment and we’ll see how it goes.
• And finally, we would welcome your help. Last year, it was just the two of us (Aadil Kurji and Chris Neville-Smith); this year we’re looking to build up more of a team. However, we’re aspiring for Durham Free Fringe to be an operation run by artists for artists. If you are performing with us, or you performed with us last year, we’ll welcome any offers of help. If, however, you’re not a performer, for the time being we encourage you to volunteer with Durham Fringe instead of us. But that’s only a guide – if you specifically want to work with us, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

How to apply

To apply, go to our application page. The form will work its magic and send it to us, and we will get back to you within 72 hours. This will probably just be a confirmation we’ve received it, but we might ask some queries if there’s anything that need clarifying. If you don’t get an acknowledgement within 72 hours, please chase us up with an email, to be on the safe side – there’s a chance the internet failed as and we never got your application.

If for any reason you can’t use the online form, we’ve also made available forms in Word format, Libreoffice format or plain text, that you can email to us manually. However, please use the online form if you can, because it’s easier for us to process.

Please do not stress too much over what to put in the form – we hope to accommodate everyone who applies, and the information you give us will mostly likely be used by us for scheduling and general planning. Probably the most important decision to make is choosing a show description for the programme that appeals to an audience – but we are happy to advise on that if you’re not sure what to do.

We are not particularly bothered about whether you are seasoned fringe veterans or complete beginners. Unlike more commercial operations, where the pressure is on to programme well-known acts to bring in the crowds, we are more interested in giving everyone a chance to perform. What is more important to us is practicality. We might have to say no if we think your set/prop/tech requirements are not achievable in the spaces we have. Likewise if we can’t work to your availability. But if you want to take artistic risks, from your first time on stage to new untested work, you are welcome.

We expect do to most of our scheduling and offers in April. This is because we expect all Durham Fringe applications to be accounted for one way or the other, but still leave artists with plenty of time to plan their July with a firm date from us.

And that’s it. Hope this is simple enough. We look forward to hearing from you.

Questions and answers:

Can you really do theatre in a free fringe space? The Free Fringe is overwhelmingly associated with comedy, particularly stand-up comedy. The reasons why aren’t surprising: stand-up comedy needs little more than a microphone and an audience; and with almost all free fringe spaces being pubs, this is the entertainment pubgoers most warm to.

But theatre can work too provided you know what you’re doing. A play directed for the conventional stage will struggle to work in a free fringe setting due to limited space, lack of tech capability and chattier audiences. But a theatre piece that makes good us of the space it’s set in and heavily interacts with the audience can work very well.

Are there maximum and minimum running times? There are no hard and fast rules on minimum running times. Last year we were able to take acts as short as five minutes by including them in our mixed bill comedy. If you have a short act that’s isn’t comedy, please apply anyway – we’ve found that that other types of act such as spoken word can suit these events too.

For maximum running times, we work to the base assumption of shows being an hour long with a half-hour gap between them, which means shows of up to 75 minutes should be feasible. Anything longer will be difficult, and we will be reluctant to programme something that takes up space that could have gone to two other acts. But ask us – we may be able to make this work.

Can I take a work in progress to Durham Free Fringe? Yes! This is one of the things Free Fringe does best. Some of the most successful Fringe shows out there developed on the Free Fringe.

Whether you advertise your show as work in progress is less straightforward. We don’t expect shows at the free fringe to be fully polished – and arguably all fringe shows are works in progress to some degree. If, however, you are going to be reading off a script, or using cue cards for a stand-up set, it’s probably fair to bill this as WIP. But we can’t police this, so ultimately we’ll trust your judgement on what to call this.

Can I bring one show to Durham Fringe and another to Durham Free Fringe?Yes! We were a bit reluctant to encourage this last year as we didn’t know how much demand there would be, but we’ve decided we like the crossover. You might want to accompany a polished show at Durham Fringe with a new show at Durham Free Fringe, but that’s a suggestion and it’s up to you. Whatever you want to do, you’re welcome.

Am I guaranteed a slot if I apply? We’d love to yes to everybody, and we hope we can, but at this stage, we don’t know. We do have a number of ideas in place for how we can respond to demand, and expand or shrink capacity as needed, but we can only accommodate a finite number of acts and we don’t know how many applications we’re going to get. All we can say at this stage is that our aspiration is stage for everyone, and we hope we deliver on this.

Can we bring our own tech to a Free Fringe venue? We have no objection ourselves to bringing along your own equipment provided you can set it up and strike it in time. However, we would also need permission of the relevant venue, which we can’t guarantee. Best strategy is to tell us what you want to do, try to keep it as simple as possible, and have a tech-free backup plan if we have to say no.

Will we make money from this? Quite honestly, we don’t know. At the Edinburgh free fringe venues, there’s a strong expectation that you should make a proper donation if you can afford it, and £5 or so is considered a typical amount. However, the culture of Free Fringe outside of Edinburgh is relatively new and relatively untested.

However, money isn’t the best reason to do the free fringe. Trying out work, finding an audience, or just having a good time are all things we’d rate as much better reasons. If you know what you’re doing and you think you can make a tidy sum with us on the free fringe, go ahead – but for most applicants, having fun is probably a more worthwhile goal.

You said you’d welcome help from artists performing with you. How do I express interest for that? We’re going to be doing that later. We considered including this in the application process, but decided against it as this could prejudice our decision-making. Those of you who performed last year and expressed an interest in helping this year – we will be contacting you shortly. Everyone else: we’ll probably ask after we’ve given out offers.

And to stress once again: there is absolutely no obligation here. If you just want to do your own show, that’s fine. But the more help we get, the more help we can give other artists in the future.

I have a different question! Please ask, at hello@durhamfreefringe.org.uk. We’re not giving a running commentary of every discussion we’ve had and every decision we’ve made, but we’re quite open about our plans, and we’re quite happy to answer any questions of what we’re doing and why.

And that’s it. Look forward to hearing from you.