Greater Manchester is set to become the new home of the biggest annual gathering of the British TV industry after a competitive bidding process between British cities which will result in 2026 being the final edition of the Edinburgh TV Festival.
The festival launched a surprise bidding process late last year after 50 years in the Scottish capital, open to both Edinburgh and other cities, although London was excluded. This came following feedback and a review after complaints over affordability, with eye-watering accommodation costs in Edinburgh in August due to the Edinburgh Festival, Fringe and International Film Festival, which take place at the same time as the famous TV Festival.
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Edinburgh itself, Greater Manchester and Newcastle were shortlisted back in March as the potential new hosts from 2027, with fans of the bid to keep the event in Edinburgh noting that many of the festival’s biggest successes would never have happened without the crossover with the other events, in particular the Fringe Festival which sees almost every vacant space in the city turned into a performance space for comedy, theatre, music and more. The Fringe has given a debut public airing to global smashes including Fleabag and Baby Reindeer. The festival team paid tribute to Edinburgh despite Greater Manchester’s victory, describing the city and its cultural heritage as “embedded within the TV Festival’s heart and soul.”
Campbell Glennie, CEO of the TV Festival and TV Foundation, said Greater Manchester “presented a vision for the Festival that combined genuine creative ambition and future-facing energy with practical accessibility and affordability for delegates.”
He added: “This means we can radically reduce the costs associated with attending the festival as well as the cost of passes. The city reflects the expanding ambition of the UK television industry, while still offering the scale, connectivity and unique cultural identity needed for an event of this significance. It gives us the strongest platform to grow the festival’s reach and impact in the years ahead.”
Board chair Fatima Salaria said the decision ultimately came down to questions of “affordability, accessibility, sustainability and the changing shape of the industry.”
The other losing bid, Newcastle, was branded “ambitious, imaginative and deeply compelling” by the festival team.
Greater Manchester and its surrounding area itself has a rich TV heritage of production, news and cultural hits like Queer as Folk, Shameless, It’s a Sin, Cracker, Peaky Blinders and The Royle Family, to name but a few.
2027 will mark the first time the festival has been held in England, although it has previously hosted spin-off events in English cities, including Manchester. More details will be revealed in due course about the dates, line-up and venue(s) of the 2027 fest, and we’ll have local reaction on the site later today.
This year’s final Edinburgh event takes place from 25-28 August, with a keynote MacTaggart lecture from YouTube EMEA boss Pedro Pina.
