How to See the Best of Edinburgh’s Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival started in 1947 in an attempt to restore some excitement to war-scarred Britain. Before long, various performing artists who couldn’t get on to the official events programme started turning up and doing their thing there too. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe was born. Since then, the Fringe has continued to grow to the extent that it now dwarfs the official festival.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Book accommodation in Edinburgh for August, the time when the festival takes place. It’s advisable to do this in advance. It can get quite crowded in Edinburgh during the festival. Since August is prime time for holidays in Britain, some Edinburgh residents like to vacate their city during the festival season and shack up elsewhere, while renting their homes out at exorbitant prices of course. Exorbitant though their prices may be, they are likely to be slightly less than the cost of a good hotel so, if you plan to stay for any length of time, this may be an option worth exploring.
2. Get to Edinburgh.
3. Understand that the essence of the Edinburgh Fringe is its unpredictability. Literally anyone can turn up and call themselves a performer, and there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of shows in total. As a result, there is no way in advance to predict what’s going to be good and what isn’t. You’ll just need to roll with it and soak up the buzz about what’s good as the festival unfolds.
4. Check the press. Many of the British broadsheets deploy vast armies of busy reviewers during the Edinburgh festival to try and keep up with all the shows. The Edinburgh-based newspaper, the Scotsman, is often praised for the quality of its coverage so it may be your best bet.
5. Monitor the awards. There are loads of award schemes designed to recognise the best of the Fringe. Many of the awards are granted as the festival unfolds rather than all at the end by which time it would be too late to actually see the shows! Some of the most notable Fringe award schemes include the Fringe Firsts from the Scotsman, the Herald Angels from The Herald, the IF Comeddies awards, and those given by the Scottish events magazine The List.
6. Check the Edinburgh Fringe website (see Resources). It includes a facility through which users can post their own ratings and reviews of shows they have seen.

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