Fest Magazine
| Type | Bi-Weekly Magazine |
|---|---|
| Format | A4 preview, A5 Glossy |
| Owner(s) | Sam Friedman and Radge Media Limited |
| Publisher | Sam Friedman / Fest Media Limited |
| Editor | Ben Judge |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Edinburgh |
| Circulation | 125,000 (August 2013) |
| Official website | festmag.co.uk |
Fest Magazine is an Edinburgh-based arts magazine that publishes during the Edinburgh Festival each year. It is a free, bi-weekly, A5 glossy publication distributed through key Festival venues.
History
Fest was established in 2002 as an alternative Edinburgh Festival review guide by former University of Edinburgh students, Helen Pidd and Dan Lerner. It started life as a 32-page tabloid newspaper which published three times per week during August. It began with the support of Time Out and in conjunction with a large number of student writers from the Edinburgh University student newspaper Student.
In 2003, Fest relocated from the basement office at the Pleasance Courtyard venue and began to establish a reputation among Fringe-goers as a strong youth-oriented, independent arts magazine. Media partnerships were established with The BBC and Big Issue Scotland between 2003 and 2005.
In 2007, Fest adopted an A5 glossy magazine format at 100 pages, and in 2008 launched an accompanying A4 preview magazine distributed before the start of the festival.
Awards
In 2006, Fest writer and theatre editor, Miles Johnson, was awarded the Allen Wright Award for Excellence in Journalism for his feature "Bowling with The Hamiltons", beating off competition from The Scotsman, The List and The Sunday Herald. Johnson, 21 at the time, was also the Allen Wright Award's youngest winner in its nine year history. Editor Sam Friedman was also nominated for the award.
Fest received an additional two nominations in 2007 through Nana Wereko-Brobby and Yasmin Sulaiman.
Fest was also listed among The Times Top Five Festival Websites in 2005.