Underbelly Cowgate opened at the 2000 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with four shows.
About Us
From pop-up concepts to the West End. We create something udderly bigger than a show.
is a UK-based live entertainment company founded in 2000 by Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood. The company produces and programmes acclaimed theatrical productions, live events, festivals and cultural experiences across the UK and internationally, often in site-specific and unconventional locations.
Alongside ATG Productions, Underbelly is co-producer of the Olivier Award-winning Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Other recent productions include Macbeth alongside Wessex Grove starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, Nutcracker at the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club with The McOnie Company and Southbank Centre, Cabaret Royale in Charleston, and Tweedy’s Massive Circus.
Underbelly has produced major festivals and events including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Underbelly Festival in London and Hong Kong, Christmas in Leicester Square and Skate Leicester Square, and has delivered large-scale public events including Pride in London, West End Live, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, Edinburgh’s Christmas, Dubai Expo and The Walk, and the UK’s first ever swarm drone show as part of Hogmanay’s online celebrations in 2020. Since 2025, Underbelly is also the programming producer for Nevill Holt Festival in Leicestershire.
Underbelly is also one of the largest and longest-running producers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where for over 25 years it has presented landmark productions including Fleabag, SIX, My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?), Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! and Humans by Circa.
The creative duo who built a cultural powerhouse from the ground up.
Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood founded Underbelly in 2000 as a small venue at the Edinburgh Fringe, developing it into the leading entertainment company it is today. Along the way, they have done pretty much every job required from programming to producing, marketing to designing, tearing tickets and ushering, serving pints to cleaning toilets, and they’ve loved (nearly) every moment. Key milestones have been building Udderbelly in 2006, presenting SIX and Fleabag at the Fringe, opening at Southbank in 2009, producing Edinburgh’s Christmas and Hogmanay from 2013, and launching Cabaret in the West End in 2021.
25M+
Visitors Since Launch
4,500+
Performances Per Year
7
Olivier Awards for Cabaret in the West End
Our Commitment To
Sustainable Events
At Underbelly, we believe moo-vellous live entertainment should leave a lasting impression on audiences, not on the planet. That’s why sustainability is built into how we plan and deliver our events, from reducing waste and environmental impact to creating inclusive, accessible experiences for everyone. We’re committed to working openly and responsibly with our teams, partners and communities, whilst always looking for better ways to do things as we moo-ve into the future.
The Underbelly Timeline
2006
Major Venue Expansion
Violet (our upside-down Cow theatre) took up residence in Bristo Square at the Fringe 2006.
2007 & 2008
Violet goes to the seaside
Violet had two seasons at Brighton Festival and presented Yoko Owner and Scissor Sisters.
2008
Next Stop: London
Underbelly Festival Southbank pops up right on the banks of the Thames.
2013
Start of a global phenomenon
Phoebe Waller Bridge debuts her one-woman show, Fleabag, in Cowgate. The show went on to win numerous BAFTA’s, Emmys and Golden Globes.
2013
First Christmas Event
We also brought Christmas cheer to Edinburgh for many a year until 2021.
2014
Pride in London
Underbelly produced London’s second largest outdoor event (after the marathon) from 2014 – 2017
2015
It’s Time to Go Global
Violet sailed the ocean to make her international debut at Underbelly Festival Hong Kong.
2015
Trafalgar Square
Back home, Underbelly begins their partnership with West End Live, helping to produce the annual event that brings the best of the West End to Trafalgar Square.
2017
New home for international contemporary circus in Edinburgh
Underbelly opens its first dedicated circus space at the Edinburgh Fringe.
2017
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay
From 2017 – 2021, we produced Scotland’s New Year Festival – Edinburgh’s Hogmanay with over 90,000 people attending three days of spectacular events, showing the world how to party!
2018
Marble Arch Theatre
In association with Cameron Mackintosh, we produced Five Guys Named Moe in the purpose built Marble Arch Theatre which was nominated for the Best Entertainment and Family show at the 2018 Olivier Awards.
2018
SIX
Up in Edinburgh, another West End hit takes its first performances, as SIX debuts with Underbelly.
2020
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay
After a difficult year of the pandemic, we said farewell to 2020 with a spectacular drone show for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, written by Jackie Kay, set to a score by Niteworks and voiced by David Tennant and others.
2021
7 Olivier Awards
Alongside ATG, Underbelly transformed the Playhouse Theatre for the new production of Cabaret, originally starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. Winning 7 Olivier awards, the show is still playing to sell-out audiences every night.
2023
Underbelly Soho opening
Located in the heart of Soho, Underbelly acquired our first ever permanent venue, now home to the hottest theatre, comedy, variety and cabaret.
2023
Cabaret Royale
Across the pond, we opened Cabaret Royale at the Charleston Gaillard Centre, held in a magnificent Spiegeltent.
2024
Macbeth with Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma
We brought an innovative new production of Macbeth, starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, to a series of warehouses in Liverpool, Edinburgh and London.
2024
Tweedy’s MASSIVE circus
Beloved clown Tweedy took his MASSIVE circus on tour, spreading clowning mischief and mayhem to children everywhere!
2025
Skate Leicester Square
We built a brand new ice rink as part of our Christmas site in London’s West End at Leicester Square, around the statue of William Shakespeare – William Skates Here!
2025
Nevill Holt Festival
Taking the creative passions and knowledge of 25 years in industry, Underbelly began producing Nevill Holt Festival, located in the Leicestershire countryside.
2026
Liverpool’s Christmas
In November 2026, Underbelly is due to launch a new event for Liverpool’s Christmas: Skate St George’s Liverpool.
