FBTS25 DELIVERS £11M BOOST FOR EAST LOTHIAN

£11M BOOST FROM FRINGE BY THE SEA TO EAST LOTHIAN ECONOMY

Festival-goers celebrate creativity, connection & community

Fringe by the Sea has delivered its most successful festival to date, with an independent survey of visitors to East Lothian’s multi-arts festival revealing a significant cultural and economic impact for the local community.

The report highlights the festival’s continued growth, with attendance increasing 20% to 103,000 visitors this year.

The economic impact also showed strong gains, with the event contributing over £11 million to the local economy and supporting 147 tourism-related jobs throughout the county. Findings reveal a significant boost in new visitors to East Lothian, many of whom explored nearby attractions such as the Scottish Seabird Centre, local museums, and points of interest across North Berwick, Dunbar, and East Linton.

The research also highlights a 20% year-on-year increase in the use of accommodation, cafés, and restaurants during the Fringe by the Sea period, demonstrating that visitors are staying longer and taking the time to discover more of what the county has to offer.

Key highlights from this year’s festival include:

56% of attendees came from outside East Lothian (up from 44% in 2024)
96% of visitors came to North Berwick specifically because of FBTS
88% of attendees would “definitely” attend future FBTS events
95% rated their experience as “Excellent” or “Very Good”

The findings reflect not only the growing popularity of the festival, but also its power to bring people together through a shared celebration of creativity, connection and community.

Cultural Highlights and Big-Name Acts

The 2025 lineup featured exclusive performances from French duo Air, the Mercury Prize-winning Ezra Collective, and comedian Alan Davies, in a diverse programme of music, arts and culture. Festival-goers enjoyed events across four venues, around town and in a buzzing central hub, with local food vendors, creative Maker’s Market and family activities.

Sustainability and Community at the heart of the Festival

Fringe by the Sea continues to prioritise key sustainability measures in 2025, including the use of John Clark Volvo electric cars for talent transportation and the installation of a biophilic garden by Lynn Hill to encourage and educate visitors on the importance of connecting with nature. Additional bike racks were available in The Lodge to promote travel without the use of cars while public transport options included a special midnight train service from Scotrail and additional bus services.

All festival waste is meticulously hand-sorted by partner Caledonia Horticulture, ensuring that 99% of waste is recycled, or converted into energy. Daily ‘Rubbish Chats’ were hosted for free for visitors to show the work undertaken by the team and the importance of waste sorting to avoid the use of landfill. This year also saw the launch of a reusable cup Initiative, reducing single use wastage and raising over £7k for Scottish Coastal Clean-Up charity.

Fundraising efforts continued with close to a total of £13k raised for local charities including Leuchie House and RNLI, through events over the 10 days.

With over 50+ events focusing on climate, environment and sustainability including Nature Day with Scottish Seabird Centre, Coastal Walks, Nature Animation Workshops, E-Bike Tours and Natural Art Workshops, Fringe by the Sea ensured that sustainability is at the core of the festival.

Accessibility action

Following funding from the North Berwick Community Area Partnership, Fringe by the Sea introduced new and improved accessible seating platforms in the main big top and lodge stages. The funding also allowed for two passenger buggies to help those with restricted mobility access the main festival site from blue badge parking, enhancing comfort and inclusion for all.

Commenting on the success of this year’s event, Fringe By The Sea Festival Director Rory Steel said:

“With more visitors than ever before coming to enjoy our community-led festival, the team at Fringe By The Sea has been truly humbled by fabulous feedback we’ve received.

“Whether it was Ezra Collective hanging out with our local youth club, the epic artistry of AIR bringing their global tour to North Berwick, Dunbar’s Racecar playing a magical, intimate gig or any one of our amazing local artists performing on the Lighthouse Live stage, this year had so many memorable moments we can rightly be proud of sharing throughout East Lothian. Bringing people together to share in these moments is what it is all about.

“The uplift to the local economy is another important part of delivering Fringe By The Sea, and we’re immensely grateful to all our partners, suppliers, traders and festival-goers for their commitment to making our wonderful wee festival such a special part of Scotland’s cultural summer scene.”

Fringe By The Sea 2026 will take place on 31st July to 9th August.

For further information, please contact Fiona Duffy email: fiona@duffpublicity.com Tel: 07710 419762