SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR EDINBURGH HORROR FESTIVAL 2023
This is a submission form to take part in the EDINBURGH HORROR FESTIVAL 2023. You should read, understand, and agree to these before submitting a show. By submitting this form you will be acknowledging and agreeing to the EHF Terms and conditions (contained herein) and will be expected to adhere to any requirements listed.
This submission form is for in-person, live shows lasting between 40 and 60 minutes. We are unable to consider submissions outside of these parameters. You can submit a show for a one off performance (Tuesday October 31st only), or for a long run of four nights from Thursday October 26th to Sunday October 29th inclusive.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD EMAIL US AT participants@edinburghhorrorfestival.co.uk
GENERAL
1. The Edinburgh Horror Festival runs from Thursday October 26th to Tuesday October 31st inclusive. Full length shows (40 minutes+) will run for either: four nights from Thursday October 25th to Sunday October 29th, or for a single performance which will be on Tuesday October 31st. You may submit for either type of run, or both (You will only be offered one or the other)
2. The Banshee Labyrinth is a working pub venue. Due to licensing laws relevant to our venue, all those involved in your production from performers, front of house, technical, or anyone who will be present in the venue at any point, must be aged 18 or over on or before Wednesday October 25th 2023. You may be required to show proof of age.
3. Submissions are open until Monday June 19th 2023.
4. If you are offered a place, you should not turn up for a performance under the influence of alcohol or drugs. You should not behave in an abusive manner toward anyone at the venue. If you do, we reserve the right to cancel your show with immediate effect.
5. There will be EHF staff on hand during the Festival weekend. You should approach these before approaching bar staff for assistance when the venue is busy.
6. You will get a performance space, tech equipment (Type is room dependent- see Technical section for further details), listed in our printed programme and online, and access to limited storage space.
7. The participation fee is £50 for a four night long run. Single performances on Hallowe'en are £13.
COVID
As we are still in pandemic status – at time of writing – there is always the chance that the in person event may be cancelled with little notice should government rules, or venue closure necessitate it- although that seems very unlikely at this point. In the scenario that the event is cancelled we will roll over all slots to 2024 automatically. We would always encourage people to engage in a manner they consider safe. The venue has good air filtration systems, updated during the pandemic.
ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTION
1. The ideal run time for a live show is between 40 and 60 minutes.
2. Shows under 30 minutes are advised to partner up with another act of a similar time frame to submit a two hander.
3. There will be between 15 and 30 minutes change over time between In-person shows – this can vary depending on the type of show and space.
4. Limited storage will be available for props, set pieces (within reason) and costume. They are left at the venue at the owners risk and neither the EHF nor venue, or staff, takes responsibility for losses and / or damages. We would also recommend labelling your items so other acts know not to use them as all acts will have access to storage areas.
5. Shows must start and end on time. Over running shows have a knock on effect that impacts the entire night.
6. We accept a variety of show types but at present cannot accommodate live bands or fire work. We are not a film festival.
7. You should aim to provide as much detail in your submission as possible and ideally provide a video link to the show if it exists, or previous work if it doesn’t. Please do not simply give an “elevator pitch”. One of the main reasons for a show being rejected is they have not included enough detail in their application, the second reason for rejection is it is not clearly horror related.
TECHNICAL
1. If successful you should attend two day events planned to give you hands on experience with the spaces and technical set up, and to get to grips with the spaces.
1a. The first of these will be a technical induction and should be attended by those who will need to understand and be aware of what the technical set up is (eg. Director and technician). It is a chance to see the tech, the spaces and have an induction with the venue technical staff. This will not be a technical run, nor rehearsal time. The date for this will be (TB but a Sunday in early September)
1b. The second of these will be a more general "Get In' and will be Wednesday 24th October from 2pm to 7pm. Each act will have at least a one hour slot on that day to run the tech and use the space. This will need to be a "cue to cue" tech rehearsal as you likely will not have time for a full tech run due to the restrictions of the venue. As many of your team should attend as possible, especially if planning to rehearse.
2. All spaces have microphones, sound systems, and lighting – the level of which varies dependent on room. The Cinema Room and Chamber Room both have projection facilities. If you wish to use projection in the Vault or Cave Bar rooms you would need to provide that yourself.
3. You will be responsible for providing your own technician and playback device (laptop, mobile, tablet etc). If you are struggling to secure a technician, please contact us and we can put you in touch with technical assistance – any third party technicians we recommend will set their own rates and will act independent of the EHF.
4. If you are offered a show in the Cinema or Chamber room you may have the option to live stream one of your performances if you wish. We have had positive feedback for providing a digital component and would like to continue this. You are able to charge for audiences accessing the digital stream if you wish.
ADMISSION
1. Shows cannot admit under 18s under any circumstances for the in-person events. Please ensure that OVER 18s ONLY is clearly displayed on any and all marketing.
2. Admission prices are determined by the act themselves. Most opt for a “Pay What you Can” model where the audience donates at the close of the show, but some have charged admission in the past. A bucket will be provided for collecting donations at the end, a member of your team should be stationed with it near the exit.
3. If charging admission we will sell the tickets both online, and with a box office presence over the weekend.
4. For Pay What You can shows, we offer audiences the opportunity to reserve seats via our website should they chose to. The reservation price, if any, will be set by the act. We do recommend a minimum amount is set for online Pay-What-You-Can shows.
5. If charging admission or seat reservations we will provide the online ticketing service via our website. Please be aware that card handlers/ paypal will charge a small processing fee per transaction. This is not something we do ourselves, nor do we actually make money from it, but is a result of the platform used for payment- it is usually around 5%. You should factor this in to whatever you plan to charge for admission.
6. You will be contacted by our treasurer within 14 working days of completion of the Festival to arrange payment of your sales. Payment will then be made the first half of December as long as we have your invoice.
PROMOTION
1. We will list your show: on our website, set up a Facebook event via our page, provide a listing for your show within our printed programme and on several prominent listing sites. Each year we submit a number of press releases to different types of press throughout the country- how much this is picked up by press can vary but we do send out releases and make contact with press. We also engage with online advertising.
2. We recommend that you get posters and fliers printed. Double sided A6 fliers are the most common, and A3 posters the common size- but participants have opted for different sizes in the past. You should aim to have these at the venue at least a fortnight before the Festival begins. You should look at printing at least 10-15 posters for the venue itself, plus however many you think you can adequately distribute about Edinburgh. We’d recommend printing 500 - 1000 fliers for a full run – more if you are a strong on-the-street flyerer or distributer.
3. Acts that have flyered in the past have, generally, had larger audiences than those that haven’t. You must offer the EHF programme alongside your own fliers as this helps to promote everyone.
4. You must include our logo on all image based promotional materials including but not limited to fliers, posters, Facebook covers, teaser images etc and regardless of platform - so the logo should be used if your images are going up on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, in a press advert etc The exception is for show or rehearsal photos used for promotion, you do not need to include the logo on those, though you may add if you wish
5. We will ask for a number of images at a later date for use in our own programme and online promotion.
PARTICIPATION FEES
1. The 2023 participation fees are set at £50 for a four night run of shows up to one hour long. This equates to £12.50 per performance.
2. The participation fee for a one off performance on Hallowe'en is £13
3. Fees are not refundable and are payable in full before the end of July.
ADDITIONAL
1. We will keep your information on file for 1 year following the close of EHF 2023. After this date, we will destroy all personal data unless you request otherwise.
2. If you would like your personal data removed before that one year period has expired, please email admin@edinburghhorrorfestival.co.uk
3. You should familiarise yourself with our safeguarding policy, as well as our constitution and complaints procedures. Links to these can be found in the footer of our website at www.edhorrorfest.co.uk
4. We only have access to the venue on the dates specified for either get ins or show runs. We have no power to grant rehearsal time in the space.
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