Average hotel room rates in Edinburgh during August 2025 reached just over £260 per night — a 9% rise on the previous year and 64% above pre-Covid levels — according to commercial real estate data group Costar figures shared with BBC Scotland. By comparison, the average daily hotel rate in Glasgow was £110 and in Manchester £81. A BBC Scotland analysis of nearly 600,000 event listings across six August festivals between 2016 and 2026 found that the median lowest advertised ticket price, adjusted for inflation, has fallen by £1.37 over the same period, from £14.17 to £12.80.
Edinburgh festival costs: Hotel rates up 64% since pre-Covid levels while show ticket prices fall in real terms
Average hotel room rates in Edinburgh during August 2025 reached just over £260 per night — a 9% rise on the previous year and 64% above pre-Covid levels — according to commercial real estate data group Costar figures shared with BBC Scotland. By comparison, the average daily hotel rate in Glasgow was £110 and in Manchester £81. A BBC Scotland analysis of nearly 600,000 event listings across six August festivals between 2016 and 2026 found that the median lowest advertised ticket price, adjusted for inflation, has fallen by £1.37 over the same period, from £14.17 to £12.80.
Edinburgh hosts the Fringe, the International Festival and the Military Tattoo alongside film, art and book festivals each August. Festivals Edinburgh, an umbrella organisation for the major city festivals, estimates the events contribute £852 million to Scotland's economy annually.
Fringe ticket sales slumped in 2022, a decline attributed at the time to rising accommodation costs, before recovering in subsequent years and topping 2.6 million in 2024. Earlier in 2025, Edinburgh also lost a television festival to Manchester, with organisers citing challenges around accessibility, affordability and sustainability.
Venue director Darren Neale of Greenside Venue told BBC Scotland that accommodation costs for his organisation had risen by an average of 300% over the past decade, and that utilities, insurance, technical equipment and transport costs had also increased significantly.
Self-catering accommodation presents a comparable expense. According to Visit Britain figures, renting an entire Edinburgh property for one or two people cost an average of £204.68 per day in August 2025, against £161.67 in Glasgow and £106.92 in Manchester. From 2025, visitors are also subject to the city's new tourist tax — an additional 5% on top of the original booking cost for the first five nights.
Attendance data cited in the article states that 1.5 million Edinburgh residents attended the summer festivals in the most recent year reported, up from 1.4 million in 2024.
Breaking down ticket prices by event, BBC Scotland's analysis found that average lowest prices in real terms rose marginally at the Edinburgh International Festival, from £19.83 to £20, and fell at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (£14.17 to £12.80), the Edinburgh International Book Festival (£17 to £15.50) and the Edinburgh International Film Festival (£14.17 to £12). The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo recorded the largest increase, with average lowest prices rising 36% in real terms from £35.41 to £48.
Lori Anderson, director of Festivals Edinburgh, said that costs across Edinburgh in August had risen significantly, particularly accommodation, but that festivals retain direct control over their events and work to keep tickets affordable through offers and concession prices.
The BBC Scotland analysis used official listings data from Festivals Edinburgh, covering the median lowest publicly advertised full-price ticket from 2016 to 2026, adjusted for inflation using ONS data. Pay-what-you-can shows, free events, cancelled events, booking fees and shows outside June to August were excluded.
- The source does not establish what proportion of festival attendees are local residents versus tourists
- The source does not provide data on university-run accommodation costs, explicitly noting this was unavailable
- The source does not specify which television festival moved from Edinburgh to Manchester
- The source does not establish whether the 300% accommodation cost increase at Greenside Venue is representative of other venues
- The source does not state how the new 5% tourist tax compares with rates in other UK cities
- The source does not explain what share of shows offer pay-what-you-can or concession pricing, which are excluded from the analysis
- The source does not indicate whether the 1.5 million resident attendance figure comes from an independently verified source