By Aine Jennings, Executive and Team Assistant for Fields in Trust.
Nestled just south of Edinburgh’s bustling city centre, The Meadows stands as a cherished green space, protected by Fields in Trust since 2000. This expansive park is a beloved community hub, offering a wide array of facilities, including recreational sports pitches, children’s playground, tennis courts and so much more. The vastness of The Meadows has made it the perfect venue for large-scale events, such as The Meadows Marathon and The Meadows Festival. The latter, coordinated by a committee of volunteers and community groups, embodies the notion of bringing communities together through parks and green spaces.
This month, we’re thrilled to spotlight The Meadows as it hosts Underbelly’s Circus Hub, a key venue of the world-renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest performing arts festival, has been taking place every August since 1947, attracting artists from across the globe to celebrate the arts in all their forms. Through the protection of this versatile space, The Meadows continues to serve as a prime venue for some of the Fringe’s most fabulous shows.
Established in 2015, Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows was the first-ever venue at the Fringe dedicated entirely to circus acts. This vibrant space, featuring the aptly named performance tents ‘The Lafayette’ and ‘The Beauty’ pays homage to an infamous Edinburgh magician and his companion. The Circus Hub has become a beloved part of the Fringe, offering a dazzling array of circus and cabaret performances for audiences of all ages, starting as young as one years old.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is not just about performances; it’s about fostering community engagement and ensuring that the arts are accessible to all. Through initiatives like the Community Ticketing Initiative (CTI), developed in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and EVOC, many shows offer discounted or complimentary tickets to community groups that may not have otherwise had the opportunity to attend.
The Fringe has also released a community and school guide to help teachers navigate the extensive show catalogue. This categorises a selection of shows into themes that align with the school curriculum and picks out shows with accessibility for audience members with neurodivergence and physical disabilities.
The Edinburgh Fringe is committed to acting against climate change by continually improving its sustainable practices. Through making a series of small but significant changes, the Fringe Society has managed to reduce its carbon footprint by 77% since 2015. Their website offers valuable resources on how participating shows and audience members can make their fringe experience greener. In 2022, to mark the festival’s 75th anniversary, the Fringe Society set ambitious sustainability goals, including becoming a carbon net zero event by 2030.
The Meadows is more than just a park; it’s a vital space for creativity and community, protected for future generations. We look forward to hearing more stories of innovative and inspiring uses of our protected parks.
If you’re in Edinburgh this August, don’t miss the chance to experience the magic of Underbelly’s Circus Hub on The Meadows. Shows will be running until August 26th.
For tickets and more information, visit Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows.
And if you want to enjoy the Fringe at a (slightly) slower pace, don’t miss out on wandering through Edinburgh’s lush inner-city parks. Since 1939, we have been working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council, having protected 55 precious parks and green spaces across the city. This means two-thirds of residents are now within a ten-minute walk of a protected space.
This represents an area of over 500 hectares, equivalent to 700 football pitches of protected land which can never be lost - along with the benefits they provide for people, places, and the planet.