Ezra Collective Sets the Stage for Fringe By The Sea 2025
If you love live music, mark your calendar for August 9, 2025. Ezra Collective is taking their Ezra Collective sound—a thrilling mix of afrobeat, calypso, reggae, hip-hop, soul, and jazz—to the Fringe By The Sea festival in North Berwick. And here's the kicker: it's their ONLY Scottish gig of the year. You won't get another chance to catch them north of the border in 2025.
This one-off date comes after a whirlwind year. The London-based band just dropped their third album, Dance, No One's Watching, keeping fans buzzing worldwide. Their trophy shelf is stacked: they snagged the Mercury Prize in 2023, were crowned Group of the Year at the Brit Awards (historic for a UK jazz act), and they headlined this year's BBC 6 Music Festival. And don't forget—BBC Radio 1 already tipped them for great things with a Sound Of 2025 nod.
Their show in North Berwick is set for the Big Top venue, promising high-energy grooves and a crowd moving to beats that feel just as at home in a Lagos nightclub as a London warehouse. Tickets are £48 for adults and £32 for under 16s, with mostly standing room and some coveted seats if you're fast. Expect dancefloor anthems and a party vibe that celebrates the global roots of modern jazz.
Fringe By The Sea: Big Names, Bold Variety, and More Than Jazz
The Ezra Collective gig is just a slice of a massive 10-day festival running August 1–10, 2025. Organisers aren't kidding about variety. Comedy fans can catch Alan Davies—who you might recognise from QI or Jonathan Creek—and the witty, unpredictable Ruby Wax on stage. For something softer, Eddi Reader brings those famous vocals to North Berwick too.
But wait, that's nowhere near the full story. With over 250 events taking place all over the seaside town, the festival isn't just music and laughs. There'll be author talks, food experiences, and creative workshops dotted across multiple venues for all ages and interests. It’s the sort of week where you could be dancing to jazz one night, baking sourdough the next morning, and then catching stand-up comedy as the sun sets.
Ezra Collective's headline set is shaping up as the must-see highlight for live music lovers, sending out the clear message: jazz isn’t just for the purists anymore. The band’s fusion style is bringing a new wave of young fans into a scene known for late-night improvisation and live adrenaline—right to the heart of North Berwick's biggest cultural bash of the summer.
