What to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Desiree Burch on stage during stand-up show.

The American stand-up and actor Desiree Burch: 'always compelling and thoughtful'

(Image credit: Matt Crossick / Alamy)

published 10 July 2025

"There's nothing quite like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival," said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. With more than 3,000 shows to choose from, spanning everything from comedy to cabaret, "flicking through the phonebook-like Fringe programme can be more than a little daunting".

The giant arts festival is returning to the Scottish capital from 1-25 August 2025, so it's time to start planning your trip. Here are some of the best shows to look out for.

"Always compelling and thoughtful", American comedian Desiree Burch is returning to stand-up for her first show in six years, said Brian Logan in The Guardian. In that time she's become a "fixture of small-screen comedy", appearing in everything from "Mock the Week" to "Live at the Apollo". Burch returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with a "madcap voyage through midlife crisis and menopause". edfringe.com

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Yorkshire-born stand-up Joe Kent-Walters "deservedly" scooped the Fringe's best newcomer award last year for his "batshit debut" as Frankie Monroe, the ghoulish owner and MC of a fictional working men's club in Rotherham, said Lukowski in Time Out. After being "rightfully sucked into hell" at the end of his last show, Kent-Walters returns with his "pleasingly named" sequel, to haunt the audience from beyond the grave. edfringe.com

The award-winning character comic marked herself out as an "eccentric new voice" with her "dotty" anthology "Skin Pigeon" back in 2023, said Logan in The Guardian. Now, she's back with another collection of "weird women", this time frequenting an all-night diner. "Expect silly. Expect very specific. Expect (for example) a trucker with unusually long arms and a woman who's kept her umbilical cord." edfringe.com

Mumbai-based comedian Urooj Ashfaq "made a big impression" with her Fringe debut in 2023, her "deft, warm" reflections on having therapy securing that year's best newcomer award, said Lukowski in Time Out. In her new show, "How to Be a Baddie", the "wide-eyed" comic riffs off her "squeaky clean image", trying to convince us she's had a "personality overhaul" and is no longer a good girl. edfringe.com

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Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.