About us

C ARTS programmes and operates an online digital arts programme year-round, and theatre, performance and exhibition spaces at temporary arts venues at the Edinburgh Fringe each year. Our organisation encompasses the work of our strands C digital, C venues, C film and C theatre.

Our aims and our purpose are cultural and educational. We seek to showcase the best artistic and creative work. At the heart of what we aim to achieve is to create an environment where creativity can flourish, where people can learn from each other and develop their skills and mutual understanding, where diversity is celebrated, where participants and audiences are enriched culturally, and where participation is accessible and inclusive for all.

Our curated programme, encompassing drama, dance, physical theatre, musical theatre, music, mime, circus, cabaret, comedy, children's and family shows and visual and performance art, makes C a focus for international independent arts. Alongside a broad programme incorporating drama, new writing, physical theatre, musical theatre, and children's theatre, C has developed a speciality programming immersive, interactive and site-specific theatre, and in hosting cabaret, music, spoken word, circus theatre, physical comedy, performance art and cross-genre work, talks and discussion sessions, workshops and events involving performance, visual and literary arts.

Established in 1992, we have created performance spaces in locations as diverse as exam halls, hotels, churches, masonic lodges, Craigmillar Castle, the former New Victoria cinema, the SoCo Old Town gap site, and landmark buildings such as India Buildings on Victoria Street. Our venues at the Edinburgh Fringe have included original venues from the earliest years of the festival and some of the newest fringe venues in the city. Creative work shown at our venues has come from and toured to cities around the world, and has been awarded Fringe First, Total Theatre, Musical Theatre Matters, Infallibles, and Asian Arts awards.

Our original and atmospheric venues our Royal Mile historic Fringe venues, C aquila at the Roman Eagle Lodge on Johnston Terrace and C alto at the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace, and our hub venue, C aurora at Lauriston Halls on Lauriston Street.

The nature of our project dictates that our income is not guaranteed. We operate without major sponsorship. We take a financial cost on projects with artistic merit. We seek to keep ticket prices affordable for audiences, and the costs of participation reasonable for companies and artists. We are a not-for-profit organisation: any surplus from our operation is invested into supporting our cultural and educational aims.

C is and always has been a volunteer-focussed organisation. We have developed our volunteer programme in line with guidance from Volunteer Edinburgh and Volunteer Scotland. We seek to ensure that our volunteer programme offers the best possible opportunities and potential outcomes for our volunteers.

We support and participate in strategies to promote good practice, including initiatives in conjunction with other venue producers and organisations, and the Green Arts Initiative. We are a founding member of Fringe Alliance, incorporating the Association of Independent Venue Producers, working to promote best practice at the Fringe.