Collision of Oasis concerts and Edinburgh Fringe Festival sends hotel prices soaring sky-high
Edinburgh, Scotland - The 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival is facing significant accommodation challenges due to a clash with Oasis's reunion concerts at Murrayfield Stadium. The simultaneous timing of these events has caused a surge in demand for lodging across the city, leading to extreme price hikes and scarcity of affordable rooms.
According to ScotRail, more than 2 million people are expected to travel into Edinburgh during August, the month of the Fringe Festival. This influx, combined with the 200,000 fans anticipated for Oasis's three-night run, has created an intense demand for accommodation.
Hotel prices have soared by up to 74%, with some listings reaching as high as £4,000 per night. Hostels are charging hundreds for a bunk bed, and many visitors and performers report paying three times their usual rates. This financial strain is impacting budgets and access to convenient accommodation during the festival.
Stand-up comedian LP Kent noted that the Fringe festival feels quieter than ever, with many smaller shows struggling to get people in. The increased competition for rooms has caused a city-wide scramble for accommodation, making planning and securing lodging particularly difficult this year.
In an effort to address this issue, the Scottish government introduced a mandatory licensing scheme for short-term lets in Edinburgh in 2022. However, the number of active licences for short-term lets in the city has drastically reduced, with fewer than 4,000 active licences and about 700 applications still under review in July.
Fringe worker Sofie Miller stated that wealthy attendees are more likely to book tickets in advance for established performers, potentially undermining the festivals' reputation for breaking emerging acts. The high costs of accommodation are causing concerns that they might be keeping punters away from less well-known acts.
Jack Scullion, a London-based poet and comedian, is paying £2,500 more than two years ago to share student accommodation during his month-long run at the festival. Some performers and attendees are facing difficulties finding affordable accommodation, with some resorting to camping, sleeping in cars, or couch surfing.
Despite these hurdles, some Fringe participants accept these challenges as part of the experience. In some cases, attendees opt for cheaper lodging outside the city center or in nearby towns, accepting longer travel times to venues to manage costs.
Consumer spending on Oasis's reunion tour in the UK is expected to exceed £1bn this year. The Oasis concerts in Edinburgh are sold out, coinciding with the annual Fringe arts festival. Edinburgh, the UK's second most-visited city, welcomed 5.3 million overnight tourism visits in 2023.
In conclusion, the main accommodation challenges at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival are severe price inflation, limited availability of budget-friendly rooms in central Edinburgh, financial strain on performers and attendees, and a city-wide scramble for accommodation. These issues are exacerbating challenges for artists and audiences alike, making the festival an expensive and competitive event this year.
- The surge in demand for affordable accommodation during the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival is not only due to the festival itself, but also the simultaneous Oasis reunion concerts at Murrayfield Stadium, which has led to a significant rise in home-and-garden rental prices.
- The increased competition for accommodation has extended to the shopping and entertainment sectors, as tourist spending on travel, lodging, and leisure activities such as music concerts could exceed £1bn this year in Edinburgh alone.
- The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, known for showcasing diverse performances and breaking emerging acts, faces concerns that the high costs of accommodation might deter punters from discovering less well-known acts and influence the overall landscape of the festival's lifestyle and finance.
