Frequently asked questions
Attending the Festival
Yes, the Festival will take place again in 2026 at The EICC in Edinburgh. You can find more information to help you organise your trip on our Plan Your Visit page.
The Festival will begin on Tuesday 25 August from 1pm, and run through to 2pm on Friday 28 August.
Your Festival pass gives you access to the full programme of events including all talks, sessions and workshops, and official Festival parties.
Festival delegates may also have priority access to TV Festival events throughout the year.
All pass types give you the same level of access, including subsidies, discounts and bursaries.
A selection of sessions will be made available on our YouTube channel after the Festival.
The only way to guarantee access to all sessions is to buy a pass.
If your circumstances change, you will be able to transfer your pass for 2025 to a colleague for £75 + VAT, or defer to the following year for £99 + VAT.
If you are eligible for a Freelancer or Indie pass you can transfer to the following year free of charge.
The Festival takes place at a very busy time of year in Edinburgh, we are aware that accommodation can be hard to find at affordable prices.
We work with our partners ExecSpace to secure favourable rates at conveniently located hotels, you can find and book these here. The site will allow you to filter by distance to the Festival venue and see all available hotels on a map.
We recommend booking as early as possible, and we will continue to work with ExecSpace to secure more options for our delegates.
Donations directly support the TV Foundation’s activity throughout the year, helping us to run our Impact Programmes and support alumni. You can add a donation to your pass-purchase if you are joining us in Edinburgh, alternatively to make a donation separate to a registration please get in touch.
£25: You’re helping to keep The Network free to all
£50: You’re directly funding a travel bursary for someone on our impact programmes
£75: You’re directly funding accommodation for someone on our impact programmes
£100+: You’re helping fund a full pass bursary
Helping someone attend the Festival will give them the networks, insights and guidance to make their career in TV possible and make the TV industry more vibrant and accessible to all.
Suggesting a Festival Session
That’s ok. Any selected idea will be discussed with the Festival Team before being approved.
Your idea will be assessed by the Festival’s editorial team. the team will be looking for clarity of message and access to the right speakers, as well as how your idea may sit within the wider programme.
Yes, they will only be visible to the Festival team.
Submissions for the 2026 Festival will close on 29 March. Submissions will be assessed throughout March and early April. The team will be in touch to discuss ideas that we may want to take forward from mid to late April.
As many as you like! But please make sure each session is well crafted and thought through.
You will be notified directly and the idea will be developed into a session. If you are keen and available to produce the session you will continue to be involved throughout the process.
Not necessarily. If you don’t have the time or capacity to produce an idea you submit, we can assign a producer from our producer pool. We can also assign an additional producer to work with you if it feels like more than one producer will be needed.
The Edinburgh TV Festival is funded by the industry, and we can create lots of partnership opportunities including co-produced sessions and session sponsorship.
Please contact Sophie Howard, Commercial Director for more information on how you can support us and get involved
Nominating a Speaker
Yes, but please make this clear in the form and also check the box that confirms that you have access to this speaker
Absolutely! Fire away.
No, you are free to suggest a speaker that we can assign to an appropriate session.
If you do wish to submit a session idea you can find details on how to do so here.
We anticipate a high number of speaker suggestions, so we may not be able to respond to them all, but if you are pitching a client or someone you have access to, rather than just someone you’d like to see as an audience member, then we will respond.
No, this is something that can – and probably will – be determined by wider editorial considerations.
Of course you can!
Session Producer Pool
It’s an opportunity to attend the Festival for free. Shape the conversation in the industry. Network and build relationships. Gain experience. Have fun!
This application process is for producers who will be assigned a session (this could be an idea that is already fully formed that just needs delivering, or a topic that will need to be properly researched and fleshed out). If you have a specific idea that you want to put forward (and produce yourself), please fill in the separate session submission form.
Producers are responsible for booking and briefing speakers; securing and briefing a moderator; defining the editorial shape of the session and key areas of discussion; sourcing clips or VTs; collating speaker bios, headshots and release forms; briefing the production team on technical requirements; liaising with the Festival team on travel and accommodation arrangements for your speakers. During the Festival you’ll be responsible for meeting your speakers, getting them to the green room and live producing the session itself (if required). Some sessions will allow for a lot of creative license!
Many of the session ideas that come through the submission portal will, if selected, be produced by the person who submitted them. However, many other ideas – including those generated by the Advisory Chair and Festival team – will need to have a producer (or two!) assigned in order to bring them to life. This is where the producer pool comes in. You are welcome to submit ideas and apply to be in the producer pool.
If you are assigned to producer a session you will get a full free pass to the Festival. If you’re accepted to the producer pool but don’t end up producing a session, you will still be offered a 40% discount on a full-price pass.
People with a wide range of backgrounds and interests, from scripted, factual, entertainment, news and current affairs. Reliable, organised, creative problem solvers – all those qualities that make you a great telly person!
Complete the short application form via the link on this page. We will shortlist candidates for an interview in March. We will be recruiting approximately 30 people to be part of this year’s producer pool. If you are selected to be in the producer pool, you may be assigned a session to produce at any point between March and June. We will also recruit a couple of floating producers to attend the Festival to help out on the ground, where needed. If you are assigned a session, or asked to be a floating producer on the ground, you will receive a full Festival pass for free. Being in the producer pool doesn’t guarantee that you will be assigned a session, but even if you aren’t, you will still receive a 40% discount on a full-price Festival pass.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch.