The Road To Edinburgh Festival 2026: Friday 26 June
In which the TV Festival skips town, EIF cracks down on phones, and EIFF teases some Midnight Madness
Despite the many debates swirling around it, Edinburgh’s Festival season is by and large a time of bon homie. Yet it doesn’t take long for the bubble to burst, as this week’s news around the TV Festival proved. First established in 1976, the industry event is packing its bags and moving to England, citing operational difficulties related to rising costs in Scotland’s capital.
Is this a sign of a wider disintegration of Festival season? A desertion from a TV Festival commonly viewed as overly Anglocentric? Or perhaps a sign of a council failing to stem the flow of Festival institutions leaving the city (only a few months ago, the Famous Spiegeltent was denied planning permission for its usual spot in St Andrews Square)?
Time will tell, but for now Edinburgh has lost one of the foundations of its Festival season. Below, there’s plenty more coverage of the TV Festival’s decision and a few other (marginally more positive) news nuggets.
TV Festival to relocate from Edinburgh to Manchester…
… after calling the Scottish capital its home for more than 50 years. According to a report from the BBC, organisers are moving from the Scottish capital due to ‘increasing challenges around accessibility, affordability and sustainability’.
Campbell Glennie, chief executive of The TV Festival and The TV Foundation, said: ‘Greater Manchester presented a vision for the festival that combined genuine creative ambition and future-facing energy with practical accessibility and affordability for delegates.
‘This means we can radically reduce the costs associated with attending the festival as well as the cost of passes.
‘The city reflects the expanding ambition of the UK television industry, while still offering the scale, connectivity and unique cultural identity needed for an event of this significance; it gives us the strongest platform to grow the festival's reach and impact in the years ahead.’
Edinburgh Council leader Jane Meagher said: ‘Of course, we're disappointed by this decision but are rightly proud of the role that Edinburgh has played in hosting The TV Festival over the last 50 years.
‘Being the world's festival city, Edinburgh will always be a place where creativity is welcomed and celebrated, and our ambitions for the screen sector and wider creative industries is as strong as ever.’
The latest edition of Edinburgh Culture Minute provides an excellent summary of the commentary around the Television Festival’s move. Read it here.
This year’s Television Festival will be the last in Edinburgh, and will feature more than 60 speakers, debates and masterclasses. It’ll run from Tuesday 25–Friday 28 August.
Edinburgh International Festival to ban phones during performances…
… a move that will make anyone trapped behind an audience member who wants 500 pictures of a performance breathe a sigh of relief.
A blog post on the EIF site stated that they are acting on the advice of audience members from previous years, who have claimed that the use of phones during shows is disruptive. ‘In 2025, phones interrupted every single concert in our Queen’s Hall chamber series,’ states the post, ‘to the frustration of everyone in the room.’
However, this will not be a strictly policed policy (unlike larger gigs where phones are confiscated before a performance begins), but will instead act on trust in audience members. ‘It’s important that we set clear expectations for everyone, Before the performance begins, feel free to snap a photo, send that last message, or share the moment online. The same goes for the interval or curtain call. But during the performance itself, take the opportunity to be fully present.’
Nicola Benedetti, festival director of EIF, said: ‘Live performance is unlike anything else, and the Edinburgh International Festival is here to protect the rarity of this experience. The power of our programme is intensified by the tangible, collective presence of everyone in the room, and we want you to be with us fully. When the lights go down and the performance starts, we would like phones to disappear from our hands, minds and ears. Views on this have been widely and boldly expressed in recent months and we are acting in communion with our beloved audiences, and extraordinary artists.
‘The late, great Alfred Brendel, whom we pay tribute to in our Queen’s Hall series this year, said it best: “The audience's contribution is concentration and silence – it's an electricity the musician can charge from.” That electricity is real, I've felt it from the stage my whole life. We encourage our audiences to switch off their phones, and let the art do the rest.”
‘We believe that live performance is most powerful when artists and audiences are in real communion with one another. On or off the stage, we all have a role to play. We're asking for your full attention so we can give you something unforgettable.’
Read the full post from EIF here.
Film Festival to host world premiere of Bad Day At The Office…
… to kick off its yearly Midnight Madness strand, which began two years ago to celebrate emerging genre cinema. Starring John Hannah, Bad Day At The Office is a POV action thriller directed by Chee Keong Cheung, and follows a man who wakes up in a trashed hotel room with no memory of how he got there.
Cheung said: ‘It's an incredible honour and privilege to be selected to screen as the opening film of the Midnight Madness strand and have our world premiere at EIFF 2026. Bad Day At The Office was an intense, very physical, technically complex and thrilling creative journey. I was fortunate to have a truly amazing cast and crew who helped me realise this crazy epic vision. I'm excited to be able to share this film with audiences and hope they will have as much fun immersing themselves and going along the ride as we all had making it. I'm grateful to Paul, Emma and the entire EIFF team for their belief, support, enthusiasm and giving us this special and prestigious launch pad to introduce Bad Day At The Office into the world and their tireless efforts in championing independent filmmaking voices.’
The full EIFF programme will be released next week. Expect the full lowdown in next week’s Road.
UPDATE: Just as this article was about to go live, the closing film for Midnight Madness was also announced: Daniel Goldhaber’s ferociously inventive Faces of Death, which is apparently about a website content moderator (Barbie Ferreira) who becomes obsessed with a series of disturbing videos online (haven't we all?).
Four stars or more
Fringe stalwart Susie McCabe will return to her August spiritual home, the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre, for Coming Of Rage, another round of caustic observational humour and personal reflections ‘interspersed with hot flushes’. McCabe has been a constantly well-reviewed presence in our pages, and received four stars for last year’s Best Behaviour.
‘It feels like McCabe has been on the scene forever,’ wrote Murray Robertson. ‘She’s so at ease when performing and is a wonderful raconteur who controls her audience with the soft power of a seasoned pro. It’s not until the very end that McCabe entertains a moment of solemnity, briefly offering a glimpse at the true extent of the pain she’s recently endured. Perhaps that might be the thrust of next year’s show but it seems off-limits for now.’ Read the full review.
Catch Susie McCabe: Coming Of Rage at Gordon Aikman Theatre, Assembly George Square, from Wednesday 5–Sunday 30 August.