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The Edinburgh Fringe, the world’s biggest and most open-access arts festival, will have a theatre inside of a sauna this year. The festival, taking place from 7 to 31 August, draws almost 3 million visitors every year.
For the 2026 edition of the Fringe, the Sauna Sessions Art Club is bringing the UK’s first purpose-built “Sauna Theatre” to life at the Summerhall Arts venue. This will be the first theatre and arts centre of its kind in the UK, while also being the country’s biggest sauna.
Founded by Lucy Osborne and James Grieve, the project will blend electrifying music and artistic performances with traditional wellness and sauna culture. It will also take advantage of the Summerhall venue, which is one of the Fringe’s most popular locations.
The endorphin-releasing environment of the sauna is expected to encourage bloodflow and relax muscles, creating an immersive experience which enhances the audiences’ senses and allows them to enjoy the performances fully without distraction.
“We know profoundly the power of theatre to connect people, fire imaginations, broaden horizons and engender happiness,” Osborne and Grieve said about their new theatre model, as reported by Time Out.
“We think combining the enrichment of art and culture with the incredible health and wellbeing boost of sauna will double the benefits and double the joy.”
What to expect at the Sauna Theatre this Fringe
The venue will be able to hold 80 people and will showcase state-of-the-art sound and lighting for performances. It will be heated to around 90 degrees celsius.
The Sauna Theatre program already includes “morning sauna raves”, among others, as well as literary salons and Aufguss, which involves immersive rituals with essential oils, towelwork and storytelling. It will also have a range of other music, theatre and dance programs, along with club nights.
There will also be a sauna-based reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s “The Waves” and a remixed version of Nick Cassenbaum’s “Bubble Schmeisis”.
The project is expected to be modular and could also tour the UK after its debut at the Fringe.
Designer Lucy Osborne and director James Grieve previously launched Paines Plough’s Roundabout theatre, which is a tourable auditorium with a capacity of 167.
This year, the Fringe will also see Shaparak Khorsandi’s debut play, Jack Dee’s 40th year in comedy celebration show, Jack’s Joke Show and actress Hannah Reilly’s one-woman play, among others.