Guildford Fringe Festival 2026 ran 4 to 19 September across 12 venues, 55 shows, most at £12 and three free. No 2027 dates have been announced yet.

Update, 22 September 2026: the festival has finished. It ran from Friday 4 to Saturday 19 September, and the festival’s website carried no 2027 dates when we checked today. The record of this year’s programme follows.

Guildford Fringe Festival returns from Friday 4 to Saturday 19 September 2026. The festival’s own listings carried 55 shows on 28 August, spread across twelve venues, and the organisers say it is the 13th edition of what they call Guildford’s largest independent arts festival (Guildford Fringe Festival).

Most tickets are £12. Three events in the listings are free. Booking is through the festival’s what’s on page.

The free ones

  • Rock Choir Day, Saturday 5 September, 10.30am to 2.30pm, listed under Guildford High Street with the Back Room of The Star Inn as the venue
  • Opera on the Balcony, Sunday 6 September, 6pm to 8.30pm, at the Guildhall on the High Street
  • UkeJam, Sunday 13 September, 8pm to 10pm, at The Britannia pub

Where it happens

The Back Room of The Star Inn is the festival’s main stage, with two or three shows most evenings at 7.30pm and 9pm. The other venues in the listings are:

  • Art and Grind
  • Christ Church Guildford
  • Clandon Wood Nature Reserve, in West Clandon, east of the town
  • Kerrera craft beer and gin bar
  • The Britannia pub
  • The Fallen Angel bar
  • The Guildford Institute
  • The Guildhall
  • The Stoke pub
  • Waterstones
  • Guildford High Street

Highlights by the day

The listings lean towards comedy, with a run of work-in-progress sets from touring stand-ups, plus theatre, cabaret, opera and children’s shows. A selection:

  • Friday 4 September: the festival opens at The Star Inn with two comedy shows at 7.30pm and 9pm, £12 each.
  • Saturday 5 September: The Wow Bubble Show for kids at Clandon Wood, 11.30am and 1.30pm, from £10; Drag Story Time at Waterstones, 12pm and 2pm, £5; a comedy writing workshop at Art and Grind, 11am to 2pm, £35; Adult Panto (Unscripted) at The Star Inn, 7.30pm.
  • Sunday 6 September: Lady Bracknell’s Confinement, 2.30pm, and The Mudlarkers, 5pm, both at The Star Inn; then Opera on the Balcony at the Guildhall, free.
  • Tuesday 8 September: Sarah’s War at The Guildford Institute, 7pm, £10.
  • Thursday 10 September: James Dowdswell: Beers of a Clown at Kerrera, 7.30pm and 9pm, £12.
  • Friday 11 September: From the Dawn of Time to the Last Battle at Christ Church, 7.30pm, £15.
  • Saturday 12 September: Brandons Barn Dance at The Stoke, 7.30pm, £15; CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation at The Star Inn, 9pm.
  • Sunday 13 September: Café De Swing at Clandon Wood, 2.30pm, £12; UkeJam at The Britannia, free.
  • Wednesday 16 September: Keys and Tease at The Fallen Angel, 8pm; Space Planet Mission, the improvised sci-fi epic, at The Star Inn, 9pm.
  • Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September: In Juliet’s Garden by Judy Elliot McDonald at Clandon Wood, 7.30pm, £15.
  • Saturday 19 September: The Smallest Sardine of the Seven Seas at The Stoke, 2pm, from £8; Pandora: The Musical at The Star Inn, 5pm; the Guildford Gag House Comedy Club closes the festival at The Star Inn, 8pm, £17.50.

Times, prices and line-ups are the festival’s own as listed on 28 August and can change; check the listing before you book.

What it means for you

  • Two free weekends in the town centre. Rock Choir Day on 5 September and Opera on the Balcony on 6 September need no ticket. The Guildhall event runs from 6pm, so it fits after the shops.
  • Getting there: the first weekend of the festival coincides with the start of the Friary bus station works on 1 September, which moves several routes to temporary stops on North Street and Onslow Street. Our roadworks and travel page has the stand-by-stand list, and parking in Guildford covers the town-centre car parks.
  • Clandon Wood shows are outside the town, at the nature reserve in West Clandon, so allow for the journey.
  • Performers can find the festival’s take-part page on its website for future editions.

Source: Guildford Fringe Festival’s own what’s on listings and homepage, read on 28 August 2026. Counts and prices are as listed on that day.