Edinburgh Festival Fringe draws back the curtain on sustainable living with its Green Home Festival

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, renowned for its vibrant theatre and comedy performances, is expanding its traditional repertoire to include sustainable home and community living, with the popular Green Home Festival making a return.

Now in its third year, the Green Home Festival will take centre stage at Charlotte Square Gardens from 12 to 16 August.

At its newly designed venue, the festival will feature a variety of shows, including workshops, panel discussions and live demonstrations, all aimed at encouraging sustainable living practices.

This year’s programme of free-to-attend shows includes:

• Accessing and maximising funding options: Learn how to access all the available funding to help in your home transformations.
• Demystifying the retrofit journey: A step-by-step guide to retrofitting your home.
• Passivhaus for self-builders: Explore energy-efficient building strategies for self-build projects.
• Smart home heating technologies: Discover cutting-edge solutions for heating your home efficiently.
• Debunking myths about heat pumps in older homes: Clearing up common misconceptions and outlining benefits of installing a heat pump in pre-1919 homes.
• Sustainable materials in construction: From low-carbon bricks to innovative seaweed-based paints and more.

Gordon Nelson, Scotland Director of the Federation of Master Builders and lead organiser, commented, “The Green Home Festival's ever-growing popularity reflects the increasing demand for sustainable living solutions. We aim to educate, inform, and inspire action towards greener practices crucial for our future.

“Leveraging the popularity of the globally renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe allows us to effectively communicate the essential changes and diverse options available to everyone for a low carbon transition.”

Targeting a wide audience from homeowners and community groups to international visitors, the festival shows that small changes can have a big environmental impact. Featuring a lineup of expert speakers and practical demonstrations, such as a full-size heat pump, the Green Home Festival is essential for anyone interested in making a sustainable difference.