Fringe of Colour is an initiative dedicated to supporting people of colour at the Edinburgh festivals, in particular the Edinburgh Fringe.[1] In 2020 and 2021, due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the creative industries, the festival went online with Fringe of Colour Films.[1] The director of Fringe of Colour is Jess Brough.
Fringe of Colour was founded by Jess Brough in 2018 as a way to combat what they termed the "overwhelming whiteness" of the Edinburgh Festivals.[2] When Brough first attended the festivals they noted that “I was looking for work by black performers and finding it really difficult.”[1] Fringe of Colour began as a publicly accessible database of Edinburgh festival shows by "Black and Brown Artists/Artists of Colour" (as Brough termed it), alongside a free ticket scheme aiming to make these shows accessible to young people of colour.[3][4] This scheme has been compared to Tobi Kyeremateng’s Black Ticket Project, based in London.[5]
In 2019, Brough received the Total Theatre Award for Significant Contribution, Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Panel Prize Award and the Creative Edinburgh Independent Award for the work of Fringe of Colour.[4]
In 2019 the scheme distributed over 500 tickets to young people of colour.[6]
The Covid-19 pandemic affected the delivery of Fringe of Colour, which as a result went online. Fringe of Colour Films streamed over 40 films by people of colour during August 2020, and 23 films during August 2021.[7] Both years, Fringe of Colour Films invited writers to respond to the films screened as part of their Responses programme.[8]
In 2020, the film programme included, among others, Athena Kugblenu, Mandla Rae, Selina Thompson and Hannah Lavery.[1]
In 2021, the film programme was curated around four themes: Protest, Flight, Rituals and Self.[8] It included, among others, Thulani Rachia, Sekai Machache, and Mae Diansangu.[8]