D&D: What Can We All Do to Build a More Sustainable Fringe for Everyone?

Hosted by                                     supported by

            

An invitation from Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a success because creatives at all levels of their careers can bring work here and have it seen by engaged audiences, arts programmers from across the world and global media.

The well documented economic, cultural and social value that this festival brings to Edinburgh and Scotland, is balanced on a delicate eco-system. We need to take considerable care that this festival continues to be affordable for artists, for arts industry, for promoters and for audiences. If the costs of things like accommodation, subsistence and travel, venue rents, continue to rise then there will come a point where this Festival is no longer affordable for the very people who give it reason, content, credibility and existence – without whom none of the economic or other impacts would be possible.

We need a citywide effort and commitment to ensuring this festival remains affordable and accessible to all. We cannot do it alone and therefore I am asking for your help, your voice and your ideas.

Devoted & Disgruntled is an event which uses Open Space Technology to facilitate open and inclusive debate about issues facing our industry and society today. It invites participants at all levels of the sector - from performers and technicians to venue managers and audiences - to take part in the discussion and consider how we can work together to create change in the sector and in society.

At D&D 'everyone's voice can be heard, and no topic is censored. There are no key-note speakers and no fixed agenda - you decide what gets worked on at the event. If we’re going to change the world for the better, we all need time and space to collaborate on an equal footing. Devoted & Disgruntled is that time and space.

There has not been a D&D at Edinburgh since 2012. Now is the time to bring that discussion back to The Fringe, to give a forum to those conversations and allow people from all walks of the festival to take part in the debate on how we can protect and improve the ecosystem of the Fringe.

Please join us in this event from 11am on 20th August to take part in this conversation. The event will run until 18.30, I will be there for as much of the morning session as I can be, likewise you’re welcome to come for as much or as little of the day as you can commit to, it is free and non-ticketed.

Thank you and I hope to see you on 20^th August. 

All the best

Shona McCarthy

To make it more possible for people to attend during the busy Edinburgh schedule, we'll be opening the space twice during the day, at 11:00am and at 3:30pm. You can choose to come to either or both parts of the day, and you can change your mind whenever you want!

This event is fully wheelchair-accessible and BSL interpreters are provided by the Fringe Society. Devoted & Disgruntled events are always "relaxed performances" and we welcome neurodivergent participants. For any other access requests, please contact [email protected] or call 020 7240 4556.