Underbelly (events promoter)

Underbelly was founded in 2000 by directors Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood to operate one venue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2001, Underbelly Limited was formed to turn the Underbelly venue into a professional operation. The original venue, on Edinburgh's Cowgate, now includes a number of different performance spaces, with themed names such as Iron Belly, White Belly and Big Belly. Over the years, Underbelly's operations have expanded beyond the Cowgate, to include a hub space known as the Udderbelly pasture in George Square and a Circus Hub on The Meadows. For several years, Underbelly operated a hub in Bristo Square, but recent redevelopment works at the nearby McEwan Hall mean the site is currently unavailable. Each Underbelly venue is recognisable by its purple, cow-themed branding, most notably a large, upside-down, inflatable purple cow which serves as one of the venues. In 2015, Underbelly hosted over 130 shows at the Fringe.

Besides its Fringe operations, Underbelly also co-ordinates "Edinburgh's Christmas" - a funfair, market and events programme in the eastern section of Princes Street Gardens. In 2014, 3.6 million visitors were recorded.

In 2009, in collaboration with the Southbank Centre in London, the company launched Udderbelly Festival, an eight-week programme of comedy, circus and family entertainment inside the upside-down purple cow venue. By 2015, the festival had extended to fifteen weeks. The festival won Best Festival at the London Lifestyle Awards in 2012.

In 2012, Underbelly also launched London Wonderground, a programme of circus, cabaret and family entertainment, based in a 1920s Paradiso Spiegeltent. The Wonderground also presents oddities, curiosities and eccentricities such as the 60-metre high Star Flyer which gives views over London's rooftops.

Other London events which Underbelly produces include West End Live in Trafalgar Square, Pride in London, and the Rekorderlig Cider Lodge at Southbank Centre's Winter Festival. In 2015, Underbelly produced the official Fanzone at the Rugby Union World Cup in Richmond.

Elsewhere, the company produced the Comedy Hullabaloo in Stratford-Upon-Avon and the Udderbelly Festival in Hong Kong.

In December 2019, Underbelly came under scrutiny for acquiring the East Princes Street Gardens without planning permission. [5] The markets were marked by safety concerns that were kept secret by the City of Edinburgh Council [6] and for the subsequent damage done to the gardens from their operations that damaged many remembrance benches. [7] [8] An investigation into the £150,000 damage to the gardens caused by the market has been launched. [9] [10]

Further criticism has arisen from the commercialisation of the longstanding tradition of the Loony Dook, held annually on the morning of January 1st every year. Underbelly has been criticised for profiteering from a public tradition, as well as raising the price of tickets for profit. [11][12]

During the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Edinburgh festival, and the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Hogmanay celebrations, Underbelly have been criticised for exploitation and mistreatment of its staff, with accusations of underpayment and non-payment, poor accommodation for its staff, and poor management.[13][14][15][16] In the 2018 Fringe Festival, Underbelly were criticised for unfair labour practices in the course of the Fair Fringe campaign to ensure the companies paid the minimum wage, observed legal limits on working hours and did not use unpaid volunteers. [17]