Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of music, dance and arts and takes place at locations across the capital city of Scotland during August. 

The festival dates back to 1947, where the Edinburgh International Festival were trying to offer a programme of arts and culture to the locals to boost the industry following the second world war. Eight theatre groups turned up to this festival uninvited and started performing on the fringe (outskirts) of the festival. This repeated year on year with the number of performers growing. They eventually created their own society and it has since grown into one of the biggest annual cultural events in the UK. 

One of the great things about the Fringe Festival is the spread it has across the city of Edinburgh. The locations of the events range from the huge city theatres and high streets to back alleys and hidden pubs. You can find absolutely everything from singing and dancing to comedy and exhibitions. Anything to do with arts and culture will be staged in Edinburgh during this time. 

Although many of the events in the larger locations cost, there are plenty of street artists or smaller shows you can easily watch for free too. Although it’s important to note when bigger names hit the stage, tickets may sell out very quickly. You can easily visit the Fringe Festival website or grab a daily schedule flyer to see which artists are on, when and where. 

Edinburgh is a hugely accessible city by road, rail, bus and air but the city itself is relatively small and walkable within a day, making it rather easy to get from one event to another without needing public transport. 

If you’re planning a visit to Edinburgh, the middle of August is a great time when the Fringe Festival is in full swing, although this is definitely a trip that needs to be planned in advance as accommodation prices tend to sky rocket in the city around this time.