Edinburgh’s long-running TV festival is set to relocate to Manchester next year after spending fifty years in the Scottish capital.

The decision was taken by the festival’s board of directors, who have been overseeing an extensive consultation and bidding process since 2025.

The TV festival, which takes place at the end of August, usually coincides with the famed Edinburgh Fringe performing arts festival, making travel and accommodation difficult and expensive. The TV festival cite “accessibility, affordability and sustainability” as well as “rising costs” as being the primary reasons for the move.

Manchester is also more central in the U.K., potentially making access easier, particularly from London. The festival is set to take place in the city’s St. John’s creative and cultural district. The dates will be confirmed in due course.

“Greater Manchester presented a vision for the Festival that combined genuine creative ambition and future-facing energy with practical accessibility and affordability for delegates,” said Campbell Glennie, CEO of the TV Festival. “This means we can radically reduce the costs associated with attending the Festival as well as the cost of passes.”

“The city reflects the expanding ambition of the U.K. television industry, while still offering the scale, connectivity and unique cultural identity needed for an event of this significance; it gives us the strongest platform to grow the Festival’s reach and impact in the years ahead.”

The iconic McTaggart lecture will remain a key part of the festival schedule, Glennie confirmed. The annual media lecture has been delivered by executives ranging from Ted Turner to Rupert Murdoch (as well as his children James and Elisabeth Murdoch) over the years plus creatives such as Jack Thorne, Armando Iannucci and Michaela Coel.

Over its five decades in Edinburgh the TV festival, which is organized by charitable organization The TV Foundation, has become one of the key industry events in the TV calendar, alongside Mipcom and London Screenings.

This year’s festival will run in Edinburgh for the last time from Aug. 25 to 28.