Festival Theatre
VenueVenue information
Address for Festival Theatre
13–29 Nicolson Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9FT
Contact information for Festival Theatre
About Festival Theatre
Your visit to Festival Theatre
We ask that you arrive at the venue in plenty of time as latecomers may not be admitted.
Please note that Festival Theatre has a cloakroom for coats and jackets only. You should not bring bags (or other items) larger than 30cm x 30cm x 15cm to our venues.
The Festival Theatre is equipped with three bars which have a range of beers, wines, spirits, soft drinks and bar snacks.
In the interests of all audience members, babies and children under four years old are not permitted in the venue. Children under the age of 16 must be supervised by a responsible adult.
Please contact the Festival Theatre if you have any specific questions about your visit to this venue.
Safety and Security
Your safety and security at International Festival events is of the utmost importance to us. Please note that bags may be subject to security searches.
If you spot anything suspicious during your visit to the International Festival, please do let a member of the team know.
List of Events
There are no upcoming events at this venue
Edinburgh is very compact, which makes it ideal to explore on foot or by bicycle. See below for information about getting to the venue.
- Find out about walking routes and cycling paths, bike security and bike parking options
- Bike racks located in rear courtyard of venue
- Bus Stop (Surgeon’s Hall): 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 14, 29, 30, 31, 33, 37, 47, 47B, 49
- Bus Stop (Potterrow): 2, 12, 47
- Taxi rank on Nicolson Square
- Waverley Station 0.4 miles
- More public transport information available at Transport for Edinburgh
- Accessible parking spaces can be booked in advance by contacting Stage Door at [email protected] or calling +44 (0)131 662 1112 and selecting option two
- Pay and display parking on Chambers Street
Venue Accessibility
- Level access to main entrance with power assisted door. Level access also available at side entrance to café
- Box Office has a low counter and no loop system
- From main entrance, all seating levels require lift or step access
- Level access directly into Stalls (bypassing foyer) via side entrance in courtyard, from Nicolson Square
- Assistance dogs are welcome and can be looked after by venue staff
Two accessible toilets:
- First Floor (right hand transfer)
- Second Floor (left hand transfer)
Lift access to all levels:
- Lift door is 80cm wide;
- Lift is 155cm deep;
- Maximum weight of 820kg
Auditorium Accessibility
- Eight wheelchair spaces in the centre Stalls, Row Q
- The best seats for people transferring from a wheelchair or with limited mobility are Stalls Row R
Seat information:
- All seats are 45cm wide;
- Stalls: 51cm (h), 50cm legroom;
- Dress Circle: 51cm (h), 42cm legroom;
- Upper Circle (Rows A–F): 40cm (h), 40cm legroom;
- Upper Circle (Rows G–L): 40cm (h), 37cm legroom;
- All seats have arms rests that do not move.
Audio description headsets
Infra-red system audio description headsets can be picked up from the cloakroom for audio described performances. Due to signal limitations, if you are using audio description see below for seat guidance - sitting elsewhere will result in patchy signal for the headsets.
- Stalls: all seats in rows C–V have good signal
- Dress Circle: most seats have good signal but the following seats do not:
- A 1–7, 50–54; B1–6, 51–56; C 4 & 5, 52 & 53
- Upper Circle: only seats 15–42 in rows C–F have good signal
Further Information
- We recommend seats in the centre of the auditorium if you want a clear view of the captions. Due to the auditorium’s size, captions will appear quite small at the rear of the venue
- Hearing enhancement headsets are also available from the cloakroom – see above for guidance of where to sit in order for the headsets to have signal.
- The positioning of BSL interpreters changes with each production. Seats with the best view of the BSL interpretation are held for Access Pass members.
Read disabled access reviews on Euan’s Guide