Meet The Media Handout

The Recs Edinburgh Fringe 2026

Hello,

As editor of The Recs, I wanted to thank you for attending ‘Meet the Media’.

As well as chatting with Randall, we wanted to offer some advice and encouragement that you could take away with you in this handout.

This year, competition for any media coverage at all is tougher than ever. Press releases started landing in my inbox way earlier than usual, meaning schedules began to fill much sooner. And from chatting with my colleagues in other publications, it seems as if many reviewers here in Edinburgh are only able to stay for a short time this year.

You may be successful in connecting with some of the media here today – but if you leave today without securing as many promised reviews as you had hoped, the first thing to remember is that it really is not personal. Nor is it any reflection on the quality of your show, or how you’ve pitched today.

It could simply be that your show isn’t what those at MTM cover (for example, The Recs never covers children’s shows). It could be that the reviewers are already covering too many shows in your genre – this happens so much more than you imagine.

Reviews are one way to help get an audience to see your show.

But, good news!  They are not the only game in town. Obviously, there is Flyering.

Three top flyering tips:

Don’t spend hour after hour handing out flyers – it’ll exhaust you. Set aside some time ahead of your show that feels doable

Quality not quantity – talking to individuals and engaging them about why they would like your show will yield such better returns then manically thrusting a flyer at every man, woman and dog that passes you on the Royal Mile

Rain does not stop play – and every rain cloud does have a silver lining. So those hardy souls who persist in trying to flyer when it’s chucking it down are a sight that can melt this flintiest heart. 

Bonus Tip: if there’s a day you can’t face flyering, treat yourself to that day off. A little bit of self-care will recharge your batteries and ready you for the fray the following day.

Online Flyering

This one astonishes me that more shows don’t do it as a regular part of their marketing. What do I mean by online flyering? Rather than standing on an Edinburgh street, you spend that time on your social media channel(s) promoting your show.

And there are two modes of doing this:

Active – you take time to post about your show, your experience, thoughts about being in Edinburgh. It’s a way of reminding people that you are at the Fringe and have a show worth seeing. Be inventive – don’t forget to tag your venue (Bonus tip – Instagram’s algorithms no longer recognise hashtags – and do more than five hashtags and they will penalise you)

Reactive – there are often punters who post on socials that they are coming to the Fringe and are looking for recommendations. The perfect opportunity to give them a warm elevator pitch for your show.

Taking fifteen minutes each day to dedicate yourself to some digital flyering is not a big ask. Do it while you are eating a sandwich or on your walk home from your venue.

Other media opportunities?

Yes, reviews are great because publications like ours and everyone at Meet The Media have built-in audiences.

But reviews are not the only potential route for appearing on our site.

This year – for the first time in five years of covering Fringe – we are having advertising on our site.

I hope that you agree that our site is well-designed and appealing to look at. Rather than having irritating pop-up ads that only annoy readers or do a banner and side adverts which tell you who has the most money to spend, we are having a rolling carousel on the front page. Your text-free image will link directly to whatever ticket-buying page you choose.

Full details are at https://therecs.co.uk/advertise/

Lastly, I just wanted to say, from the heart, well done on being here.

You are part of Fringe history. And that’s nothing to be sniffed at.

You are part of the biggest arts festival in the world! You might visit many times – or just this once. So, allow yourself to enjoy being here, as well as working hard. It’ll be over sooner than you can imagine.

All the best,

Steve Coats-Dennis and The Recs Team