The festival has taken shape in a big way this week, with venues like Summerhall finalising its programme announcements, the film festival making its first major announcement, and an hour of stand-up that's controversial before it's even been performed (we’re sure there’ll be plenty more of those on the way). Read on to find out more. 

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2026 to open with International Premiere of Louis Paxton’s debut feature The Incomer…

… which stars Domhnall Gleeson, Gayle Rankin, Grant O’Rourke, John Hannah, Michelle Gomez and Emun Elliot. The film follows two siblings who live on a remote Scottish island, only to find themselves uprooted by a council worker tasked with removing them from their home. 

EIFF CEO and festival director, Paul Ridd, said: 'With wit, grace and intelligence, this striking, unpredictable and beautifully acted Scottish debut dazzled, moved and amused us immensely when we first saw it back in January. We are thrilled to open this year's edition with a film which embodies such a stirring and inspiring spirit of creativity, empathy and invention in filmmaking. This is precisely the kind of film that EIFF is all about.'

Paxton said: ‘Opening the Edinburgh International Film Festival with my debut feature is a dream come true. Screening in my beloved hometown, and the festival where I started as a teenage usher, sharing this story with a Scottish audience, is nothing short of mind-blowing. I couldn’t ask for a more meaningful premiere.’

This is the first major announcement from EIFF so far, but you can expect plenty more as the city’s largest film festival nears its programme launch. 

Fringe By The Sea adds huge names to its bill… 

… including Russell Howard, Maggie O’Farrell, Marjolein Robertson, Kevin Quantum, Michael Pedersen, Hannah Lavery and more. 

Festival Director, Rory Steel said 'The first of our big comedy nights led by Russell Howard is guaranteed to split sides and sell-out while lungs will get a great workout at the Massaoke At The Movies sing-along, a key highlight of our family programme that also includes Joseph Coelho and Kevin Quantum.  Other must-sees include the welcome return of Maggie O’Farrell as well as Paul Jones and Dave Kelly who first played back at Fringe By The Sea in the noughties. By the end of the month we'll have all 300 events listed, so watch this space.’

The festival, which takes place in North Berwick during August, has already announced plenty of big names, including Alex James’ Britpop Classical, a grand project from the Blur bassist which transposes a full orchestra onto some of Britpop’s most heralded songs. In less grandiose fashion, Have I Got News For You panellist and long-serving editor of Private Eye Ian Hislop will discuss politics, satire and his status as the most-sued man in English legal history. 

Other announcements include classical and contemporary pianist Levi.Sct, Scottish singer-songwriter Rianne Downey and the Bay City Rollers (yes, they’re still going strong). They’ll be joined by the already-announced Kool & The Gang, Belle & Sebastian, Louis Theroux, Ben Fogle, Capercaillie, and Colonel Mustard And The Dijon 5. 

Check out the Fringe By The Sea site for more information. 

Amanda Knox to try stand-up at the Fringe…

… in a career transition that’s cat nip for journalists old enough to have thought ‘Foxy Knoxy’ was an acceptable nickname for a woman accused of murder. For those unaware of Knox’s initial rise to prominence, she was convicted of the murder of her flatmate, Meredith Kercher, in Italy. Two years later, she was acquitted. Then, she was convicted again, before being definitively acquitted in 2015 (a burglar, Rudy Guede, was later found guilty of the murder). Despite the acquittal, the press and the general public have continued to look upon Knox with both suspicion and fascination, and the bafflingly sexist ‘Foxy Knoxy’ nickname is used to this day in the British and Italian press. 

Fast forward to 2026 and  Knox is planning a comedy hour called Cartwheel, in which she discusses her mid-life crisis and her imprisonment. The lawyer for Kercher’s family has called the hour an ‘offensive and deplorable’ insult to her memory. 

Gilded Balloon’s Katy and Karen Koren, putting the show on at Teviot, said in a statement: 'The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is an open-access festival. As a Fringe venue, we provide a platform for a wide range of voices, in line with the Fringe’s long-standing commitment to freedom of expression (within the confines of the law) and ensure our audiences can make informed choices.  

'Artists and companies choose to participate at our venue and take on the financial and creative responsibility for their work. We do not curate the content of individual performances. This particular show is a one-woman piece exploring themes of motherhood, presented independently by the artist.'

This isn’t Knox’s first foray into the limelight after her acquittal. Since 2015, she’s also appeared in podcasts, published memoirs and produced a television story based on her life. She’s performed stand-up since last year, basing much of her material on her trial and incarceration. Speaking to The Times, she said of the show: 'I don’t like assuming the worst about people or places. I want to believe that at Edinburgh I could get a fair hearing.'

Cartwheel will show at Gilded Balloon’s Teviot from Friday 7–Monday 17 August. 

Kate Smurthwaite to write 20 completely different shows at the Fringe…

… one a day, each written in 24 hours, in the catchily titled Kate Smurthwaite writes and performs a brand new full-length stand-up show every single day for the entire Edinburgh Fringe based on audience suggestions from the previous day (not Tuesdays). 

As with any intriguing durational art, Smurthwaite (whose output is often prolific at the Fringe) has set herself some rules which she published on her website: 

1 Do not contact me on Tuesdays. That is my day off!

2 Shows will be predominantly stand-up but may contain small elements of poetry, music, sketch and other performance types.

3 Each show will be a minimum of 50 minutes long of which a maximum three minutes of material total can be from Kate’s previous shows. 

4 Each show will have an individual title, e-flyer and blurb which will be on her Instagram page in advance of the show.

5 No AI will be used to write material  (also that’s wholly immoral and Kate opposes the use of AI everywhere) although of course Kate will sometimes use search engines to research topics.

6 After each show audience members will suggest topics for the next show. 

7 Kate will select from the suggested topics and try to incorporate as much as possible but will reject repeat topics and tie-ins to media franchises she is not familiar with. 

8 Those who cannot attend the show (or are planning to come the following day) can suggest topics by email [email protected]. between 7.30 and 8.30pm on show days (and also on the day before the first show 7th Aug 2026).

9 All shows will be filmed for future further use and so the challenge can be verified.

Smurthwaite also stated: ‘My main concerns are if I am unwell or have to deal with major external problems. I also just don’t know what this will do to my mental wellbeing. On the one hand I love challenges and I love writing comedy. I’m excited to do it all day every day.’

It’s a fun challenge which recalls other Fringe favourites from across the years such as Mark Watson, who became known for his 24-hour endurance sets.

Either way, this is the kind of niche insanity that the Fringe is for. Good luck with it, Kate. 

If you want to see Smurthwaite tackle her Herculean feat, she’ll be performing at Banshee Labyrinth’s Cinema Room Saturday 8–Sunday 30 August for free. 

Summerhall Arts announces 30 more shows… 

… including a play from Shaparak Khorsandi, new work from Hannah Maxwell, a production from Francesca Moody Productions, and plenty more. The major announcements join 42 shows that were already set to take place at Summerhall, including Xhloe and Natasha, Adam Riches, YESYESNONO, Creepy Boys, Salty Brine, Lightning Rod Special, and Wonder Fools. 

Tom Forster, programmer and producer at Summerhall Arts, said: ‘It's an immense privilege to present Summerhall Arts' second festival programme in full. 2026 runs from drag kings to ballet, opera to satire, ceilidh to Aufguss. It cuts across class, identity, conflict, memory, care, and the digital age. Bold artists, urgent ideas — asking us to sit and sweat it out.’

Also announced earlier this week is the Sauna Sessions Arts Club. This one is quite literally a sauna, and will play host to adaptations of Virginia Woolf stories, morning raves, mystery stories of ancient Scotland, and more. According to a press release: ‘The sauna environment increases endorphins, relaxes muscles and encourages blood flow, all helping to heighten audiences’ senses and creating an immersive experience, allowing audiences to focus fully on art without distraction.’

Sam Gough, CEO of Summerhall Arts, commented: ‘We couldn’t be more excited to be bringing this ambitious Aufguss project here. It is a brilliant, brave and fun programme of work delivered in the most beautiful and innovative way and could not be more Summerhall Arts!  This collaboration came about through our shared love for bold ideas and groundbreaking approaches to the arts, housed within one of Edinburgh’s most innovative and experimental venues. What better way to develop our space, in our second year of reimagining everything we do here. Where is my towel?’

Check the Summerhall site for more information. 

Four stars or more

One-liner comic and professional oddball Dan Rath is returning to the Fringe this year with Help Me Please, which promises more of his trademark outsider energy. We were sold on Rath’s Tropical Depression last year, awarding it four stars and writing: ‘If Dave’s Joke Of The Fringe award was still running, it’s a safe bet that the shortlist would simply be a compendium of Rath’s finely-crafted gags, so sharp and compact that you’ll want to file them in the back of your head to tell friends later.’ Read the full review.

Catch Dan Rath’s Help Me Please from Friday 7 – Sunday 30 August at Monkey Barrel’s Cabaret Voltaire venue. 

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