Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023

Keep checking this page for updates on accessible performances, events and venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023.

Our office is in the heart of Edinburgh, which means we’re right on the doorstep of the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe! It’s a massive event bringing dozens of tourists and performers from across the world to Scotland’s capital city, and this year the theme is “Fill Yer Boots”.

The programme this year is rich and diverse, ranging from theatre, to dance, to comedy, to spoken word, exhibitions and events, and we’re excited to tell you about the disabled-led shows for 2023.

Accessibility at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023

The Fringe Box Office employs staff specifically to assist with access enquiries and ticket bookings, and they have access tickets which are available to anyone who wants to book specific accessibility services, including a hearing lop, audio description headsets, captioning units or seating near the BSL interpreter of a show.

The staff are also on hand to help anyone with specific access requirements for each venue, for anyone needing assistance at a venue such as avoiding queues or busy environments, anyone who has specific seating requirements, is a wheelchair user, or requires a complimentary personal assistant ticket to attend a performance. To contact the access tickets service, you can email accessbookings@edfringe.com or visit the website’s Accessible Booking Page.

There is also a list of accessible shows being hosted at the Fringe this year, including information on performances that are audio-described, BSL interpreted, relaxed, or offer touch tours, which you can find on the website. 

The Fringe’s Street Performances this year will be BSL-interpreted, and these will take place on various days throughout the duration of the Fringe. Deaf Action will be providing the BSL interpretation and are also debuting a host of exciting shows that are told using British Sign Language.

Changing Places toilets are available throughout central Edinburgh while the Fringe is ongoing. Find the Changing Places facility locations online.

The Fringe Society provides sensory backpacks for children and adults who might find the busy festival environment overwhelming. These backpacks include sunglasses, neck cushions, fidget toys and ear defenders, supporting various sensory needs. You can take the bag home with you, just make sure to return the ear defenders to the Fringe Box Office by the first week of September 2023. Complete the order form online. 

Car parking for Blue Badge Holders is available across Edinburgh, and you can use the City of Edinburgh Council’s website to find a blue badge parking space.

Information for Lothian Buses accessibility can be found on the website.

Finally, if you want to check out our reviews ahead of your visit to Edinburgh, you can read our blog post about Edinburgh’s disabled access or search Edinburgh as a location using our search function.

Disabled stories

Sophie

An autobiographical show about Emily, whose sister, Sophie, has Down syndrome. The show explores how the two sisters navigate womanhood and sisterhood, and how Sophie’s Down syndrome ties into her experiences of femininity and womanhood.

Awake and Narcoleptic with Sarah Albritton

A solo show by narcoleptic comedian Sarah Albritton, who hosts the podcast ‘Sleeping with Sarah’. It is described as a ‘raw, funny, and poignant solo show’.

Elf and Duffy: Heist

Described as ‘a hysterically funny physical show with Visual Vernacular (VV), conducted in British Sign Language with some very violent live sound foley.’

Cabaret in the Dark

An interactive show that ‘plunges the audience into darkness, allowing them to step into the shoes of their hosts, VICS, a collective of visually impaired artists from a variety of performing disciplines.’

Take The Bins Out

A dark comedy show starring TikToker and visually impaired actor Milo Mooney (@milomooner) in the title role. The performance ‘tell[s] the story of Finley Whitmore, whose congenital eye disorder wreaks havoc on his professional and personal life’.

Fat, Femme and Crippled

A comedy show where ‘Alex [uses] their experience as a non-verbal queer person to educate, captivate, but most of all titillate their audiences as they demonstrate that disabled people are just as filthy and capable of making the same bad life choices as everyone else.’

It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure

A show by disability-led theatre company FlawBored. It is ‘a scathing satire on the monetisation of identity politics that spares no one.’

Blue Badge Bunch: ReRamped

An interactive game show ‘where each game represents a different disability, giving kids and grown-ups the chance to learn about autism and cerebral palsy among others.’

Horizon Showcase: A Crash Course in Cloudspotting

‘An intimate audio-sensory journey exploring the depths of human connection and the subversive act of lying down’. The show features ‘over 300 stories from people living with invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses about their attempts to rest in public.’

Deaf Action Presents: Red Aphrodite by Amy Murray

A show by Amy Murray, who starred in Netflix’s “The Witcher: Blood Origin”. The show aims ‘to break down all the taboos about womanhood’ using British Sign Language.

Deaf Action Presents: Fàilte Gu BSL/Welcome to BSL with Evie Waddell

Explores the opportunities for d/Deaf people to own their space within Scottish culture and language.

Other shows with themes of disability at the Fringe:

More info

We’ve done our best to give you an idea of what to expect from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and, while it may seem like a lot, it actually doesn’t cover half of what this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe has in store! There are shows about the NHS, politics, nationality, immigration, race, racism and racial identity, economics, and so much more.

Check out the Edinburgh Festival Fringe website to find out more about the shows on offer this year and details on the above. 

Tags: eiff, edinburgh festivals, edinburgh fringe, Edinburgh international fringe festival, 2023