For one weekend every July, Sheffield becomes two festivals at once. The big one, Tramlines, fills Hillsborough Park with headliners and sells out months ahead. The other one is free, has no fences, and happens everywhere else: the Fringe at Tramlines, running Friday 24 to Sunday 26 July 2026 across the whole city. We have gathered every Fringe event in one place so you can plan your weekend.

What is the Fringe at Tramlines?

Tramlines began in 2009 as a free festival in Sheffield city centre, and when the main event moved to Hillsborough Park the free spirit stayed put. The Fringe is its descendant: a citywide takeover where pubs, bars, breweries and grassroots venues put on live music and DJs all weekend, almost all of it free entry. The centrepiece is the Fringe Stage on Devonshire Green, a free, family friendly outdoor stage showcasing the best of Sheffield’s music scene from afternoon until late.

Pubs with a festival inside them

The classic way to do the Fringe is a slow wander between free gigs. Two of the longest running strongholds sit minutes apart in the Devonshire Quarter: Washinglines at The Washington and the Fringe weekender at the Hallamshire Hotel, both stacking local bands from doors until close, all weekend, for nothing.

Over at Shakespeares on Gibraltar Street, Shakelines gets going a day early on the Thursday, and Delicious Clam’s gloriously named Clamlines runs its own three day DIY takeover.

Beyond the pubs: warehouses, breweries and the gloriously weird

The Fringe stretches well past the pub circuit. Sidney & Matilda runs The Other Festival, three days of free entry music in its multi room venue on Sidney Street. Triple Point Brewing turns its taproom into a weekend long stage, Distort Sheffield brings the heavy end with Tramplines, and there are metal all dayers, reggaeton specials and reunion parties dotted right across the city.

How to do the Fringe

Dates: Friday 24 to Sunday 26 July 2026, with some venues starting Thursday 23. Cost: the Fringe Stage and most venue events are completely free, no tickets needed; a handful of indoor shows sell cheap advance tickets. Where: Devonshire Green plus pubs and venues across the city centre, Kelham Island and beyond. The simplest plan: pick an area, start early, and let the music pull you from room to room.

Browse the full Tramlines Fringe listings for times, venues and maps, or explore everything on in Sheffield this summer. If you run a venue with a Fringe event we have missed, tell us and we will add it.