Haste Ye Back! theSpaceUK rounds off a vibrant 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

With 469 shows, 3,357 artists, and 188,000 tickets, theSpaceUK has helped new artists and audiences experience the Fringe

theSpaceUK is one of the largest venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with 19 theatres across 6 venues. Every genre in the Fringe programme is represented, with a strong focus on new-writing and new companies, alongside a wide range of support provided for artists bringing work to the Fringe for the first time.

187,913 tickets were issued for shows at theSpaceUK this year, demonstrating both the resilience of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the strong platform of shows at theSpaceUK. This year saw 469 shows featuring 3,357 artists at theSpaceUK, representing over 13 different countries. Each day of the 2025 Fringe saw an average of over 8,162 audience members watching shows at theSpaceUK with an average of 54% of seats filled per show.

Two artists at theSpaceUK garnered critical acclaim and were awarded the prestigious Broadway Baby Bobby Award; Sam Sherman’s Kaddish (How to be a Sanctuary), a reflection on Jewish-American life, and Baffin Productions’ In the Black, which subtly navigated systemic and institutional conflicts. The latter was also shortlisted for the BBC’s Popcorn Award for outstanding new writing and won the Binge Fringe’s Black Performers’ Award.

Our Asian Arts season was also celebrated for its diverse range of exciting work, with Cathy Lamb’s Dots and Ah-Ma being nominated for the Holden Street Theatres Award and the Brighton Fringe Award, respectively. Sole to Soul from the We ART together Foundation and The Boy From Bantay from Bantay Productions were also awarded Asian Arts Awards.

Artists at theSpaceUK were recognised for their work with Cornermen winning the coveted Theatre Scotland Bright Spark Award. Ghosted! A New Musical and I was a Teenage She-Devil, were the winners and runners up of Best Musical for this year’s Spookies, from The Edinburgh Horror Festival. Roadkill Bambi by Mal MacKenzie picked up the Queer Writing Award at Binge Fringe’s Queer Performers’ Awards, or ‘Queeries’, which celebrate excellence in shows that champion LGBTQIA+ perspectives.

Finally, Here Comes Gudong by Roarrr Theatre is a sensory-rich puppetry adventure and won Theatre Weekly’s Best Family Show, whilst Entertainment Now WoW Award for Best Theatre has been awarded to When We Were Young by Geezabreak Productions. This production was acclaimed for it’s powerful and hilarious story about the realities of gang culture in Glasgow during the 90s.

Charles Pamment, Artistic Director of theSpaceUK said: "In contrast to much of the concerns pre this year’s festival theSpaceUK has again enjoyed a fabulous month. Presenting a record number of shows, entertaining near on 200,000 audience members and boasting an array of major festival awards.

Our unrivalled locations, focus on programming work from across all genres, sensible and affordable ticket prices, all driven by the ethos of this festival as a platform for all, will continue to give those visiting this fabulous event the experiences they will want to repeat year on year.

Thank you to all who participated in and watched shows at our venues. We look forward to hosting you all again in 2026 and beyond!"

Kaddish (How to be a Sanctuary) with their Bobby Award and Cornermen after their Scottish Theatre Award