UK's First Purpose-Built Sauna Theatre Will Come to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Sauna Sessions Arts Club founders Lucy Osborne and James Grieve helm the Summerhall venue
Sauna Theatre, the first project from new company Sauna Sessions Arts Club, is the UK's largest sauna and the first to be purpose built to Showcase Theatre, art and culture. It is (literally) the hottest new venue as part of Summerhall Arts' 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme. Dreamt up by director James Grieve and designer Lucy Osborne, who previously designed and launched Paines Plough's Roundabout, Sauna Theatre brings together an ambitious programme of theatre, literature, music and Aufguss (an immersive experience using heat, essential oils, towel work and storytelling); all within the soothing heat of sauna.
This August, some of the world's greatest Aufguss artists will visit Edinburgh to perform theatrical sauna rituals that will move and delight audiences while the heat soothes bodies and minds. Aufguss merges with theatre, spoken word, music and literature in a programme that introduces sauna as a new space in which to tell stories and take audiences on magical journeys. Sauna Theatre is for everyone, being the largest sauna in the UK at an 80 person capacity and hosting a diverse programme catering to both sauna regulars and culture vultures. From morning raves to mysterious stories of ancient Scotland, the return of Nick Cassenbaum's sell-out hit Bubble Schmeisis (Remixed) to Virginia Woolf reimaginings, audiences can simply pop on their swimsuits and (cold) plunge into the Fringe like never before.
The sauna environment increases endorphins, relaxes muscles and encourages bloodflow – all helping to heighten audiences' senses and creating an immersive experience, allowing audiences to focus fully on the art without distraction. Sauna is experiencing a boom in the UK with the number of public saunas doubling year-on-year since 2018, as more and more people seek the exhilaration and relaxation of heat.
Sauna Sessions Arts Club's collaboration with Summerhall Arts, one of Edinburgh's most innovative and experimental venues, came about through shared love for bold ideas and groundbreaking approaches to the arts. Sauna Theatre will reside in Summerhall's rear courtyard throughout August.
Get Set For The Day Sauna Session Sauna Session Arts Club
The best way to start your day: relax and recharge with chilled tunes and good vibes in our beautiful theatre sauna. Treat yourself to delicious heat. You’re looking HOT today.
Morning Sauna Rave Sauna Session Arts Club
Welcome to the hottest dancefloor in town. Our DJs serve blissed-out beats as you flow between the ecstatic heat of our theatre sauna and a bracing plunge in our ice baths. Start your day with pure endorphins.
Bubble Schmeisis (Remixed) Nick Cassenbaum
Nick Cassenbaum’s sell out Fringe hit is back… in a sauna! Amidst the steam, live klezmer and ritual, Nick’s search for the place he belongs conjures Canning Town Schvitz in our beautiful theatre sauna. One hot ticket.
Lunch Break Luxuriate Lit Salon Sauna Session Arts Club
A Literary Salon in a sauna. Mellifluous phrases, magical worlds and radical ideas float in the heat as stories unspool in steam. Lie back, listen in and leave inspired. Literature has never been this hot.
Aufguss x The Waves Sauna Sessions Arts Club
A bewitching reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece in a sauna. Woolf’s exquisite story refracted through dance, heat, scent, sound and light for a truly immersive experience that feels like falling in love on a summer afternoon.
Mysteries of the Picts Sauna Sessions Arts Club
Smoke, scent and steam conjure the sweathouses of ancient Scotland and the mysterious painted Picts who gathered there. In a state-of-the-art theatre sauna, ancient rituals and stories uncover the traditions that history forgot, forged in heat.
International Aufguss Masters Sauna Sessions Arts Club
Experience the world’s greatest Aufguss artists right here in Edinburgh. Stunning choreography and extraordinary storytelling using steam and scent in a beautiful theatre sauna. Two different artists every day with line-ups announced in advance on our socials.
Sauna Sessions Arts Club - The Hottest Club In Town Sauna Sessions Arts Club
You, your mates, hot sauna, cold plunge, DJs plus a host of special guests. Theatre, comedy, and much more wrapped in a big fat party. The coolest/hottest club in town.
James Grieve and Lucy Osborne, founders and Co-Creative Directors of Sauna Sessions Arts Club, said: ‘We are beyond excited to bring two things we are deeply passionate about together in the UK’s first Sauna Theatre.
“We know profoundly the power of theatre to connect people, fire imaginations, broaden horizons and engender happiness. We think combining the enrichment of art and culture with the incredible health and wellbeing boost of sauna will double the benefits and double the joy.
“It is thrilling to be launching this new pop-up space on the very same spot we launched Roundabout in 2014 at a venue and festival that means so much to us. We’re so excited to welcome Edinburgh audiences to relax, revive and be inspired in Sauna Theatre at Summerhall Arts.’
Sam Gough, CEO of Summerhall Arts, said, "We couldn’t be more excited to be collaborating with Lucy and James to bring this ambitious Aufguss project here. It will take over our rear courtyard this Fringe. It is a brilliant, brave and fun programme of work delivered in the most beautiful and innovative way - could not be more Summerhall Arts! Imagine spending the Fringe ingesting this great work whilst expelling all of the stress and toxins from your body. Sheer genius. What better way to develop our space, in our second year of reimagining everything we do here. Where is my towel?"
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