Edinburgh TV Festival 2026 to be the last time event will be held in Scottish capital as it moves to North of England

The move comes amid efforts to make the festival cheaper and easier to attend.

Emily Maitlis at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2022.

Neil Hanna Photography/Edinburgh TV Festival

Published: Tuesday, 23 June 2026 at 3:19 pm

Subscribe to Radio Times: 10 weeks for £10, including the Christmas double issue

Edinburgh TV Festival is set to relocate to Manchester next year after half a century in the Scottish capital, organisers have confirmed.

Ad

The decision follows a competitive bidding process that was launched late last year, open to both Edinburgh and other cities. This came as part of a strategic review of the annual TV Festival, prompted by rising costs for event organisers and delegates attending the event.

The festival’s existing home of Edinburgh, plus Manchester and Newcastle were shortlisted to host the event from 2027 - but Manchester ultimately won the bid.

The event, which is organised by the TV Foundation charity, is Britain’s biggest television festival and typically attracts around 2,000 delegates.

Campbell Glennie, CEO of the TV Festival and the TV Foundation said that the relocation would make it cheaper to run and easier to attend.

He said in a statement: "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."

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Instagram may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Instagram and its required purposes.

Accept and continue

When it was announced that the festival could be moving from Edinburgh last year, various big names in TV criticised the news, with many arguing that the relocation would dissolve the TV Festival’s tie to the Edinburgh Fringe, which both usually take place at the end of August.

Edinburgh Fringe-born pieces Baby Reindeer and Fleabag were among the shows that top industry figures argued would not have been picked up if it weren’t for the two events coinciding, resulting in TV commissioners and executives discovering new talent.

Others raised concerns about the impact the move could have on local Scottish industry.

Councillor Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said in a statement: "Being chosen to host the TV Festival is brilliant news for Greater Manchester and speaks to the growth, success and strength of our screen sector in the city region and the strong partnerships and talent we have here.

"With the fastest growing economy in the UK, creative industries are a key priority growth area for us. As part of this we aim to make our region home to the strongest screen industry cluster outside London by 2028 – an ambition backed by our just-launched £10.5 million Screen Production Fund to support film and TV made in Greater Manchester, using local facilities and expertise."

The festival team praised Edinburgh for hosting the event for five decades and branded Newcastle’s losing bid as "ambitious, imaginative and deeply compelling".

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.

Accept and continue

Fatima Salaria, chair of the festival board, added: "We launched this review because the questions facing the festival around affordability, accessibility, sustainability and the changing shape of the industry needed careful and honest consideration.

"This was never a decision about wanting to leave Edinburgh, or about diminishing the extraordinary role Scotland has played in shaping the identity of this festival for 50 years. Edinburgh gives the festival a powerful origin story, and we respect that deeply. But this decision had to balance legacy with future opportunity.

"The festival now needs the right conditions, support and momentum for its next chapter; where it could have the strongest chance to grow and serve the widest part of the industry. For the Board, that place was Greater Manchester."

Read more:

Ad

Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

RadioTimes.com senior trends writer Molly Moss. She is sitting outside wearing a black top, holding a white teacup with a smily face on it to her mouth

Molly MossTrends Writer

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.

Ad

Ad

Get the Christmas double issue

Too much to watch at Christmas? Let Radio Times do the choosing to find something the whole family will enjoy.

Subscribe by 3 Dec

Loading...

Ad

Loading...