65 Cowgate is a multi-storey building situated on the historic

Cowgate The Cowgate (Scots language, Scots: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, which is used each August as a venue complex for the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, the world's largest open access festival. It is currently known during the Fringe as the Bar Bados Complex after the tiki bar on the ground floor, but was previously known by the name Cowgatehead. The building is programmed during the Fringe by Peter Buckley-Hill as part of his

Free Fringe The Free Fringe (also known as PBH's Free Fringe, after its founder, Peter Buckley Hill) is an organisation that promotes free shows during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, every August. Unlike most event prom ...

. However, the building was the subject of controversy during the 2015 Fringe when Buckley-Hill and Freestival, previous operators of the building, clashed over who had contractual rights to programme the venue. The situation was eventually resolved in Buckley-Hill's favour, although the controversy, referred to as "Cowgateheadgate", left many comedians without a venue for the Fringe, and out-of-pocket for costs already incurred. Performers to have appeared at the venue included Viv Groskop and Miranda Hennessy.

References

External links

PBH Free Fringe websiteFreestival website
{{coords, 55.9481, -3.1917, display=title Edinburgh Festival Fringe Buildings and structures in Edinburgh