The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, with thousands of performances every year. After being absent in part for the past two years, it is finally back, running from 5 – 29 August in Scotland’s capital, where you can witness performers in comedy, music and theatre from all around the globe.
The festival got its start in 1947 when eight theatre groups showed up to play there without being invited. Despite not being included in the International Festival’s official schedule, these performers nonetheless staged their performances, giving rise to the expression and name “Edinburgh Festival Fringe.” Since then, millions have gone to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to create and take in art of every variety.
As more and more performers imitated them year after year, the Festival Fringe Society was founded in 1958 as a reaction to the popularity of this expanding trend.
According to their website, the founding principle at the heart of the Fringe is to be an open access festival that accommodates anyone with a desire to perform and a venue willing to host them.
No single individual or committee determines who can or cannot perform at the Fringe; the Fringe Society does not run any venues or programme any performers.
Fringe performances take place in a wide variety of settings, including traditional theatres (such as the Traverse or Bedlam Theatre), function rooms (such as the Assembly Rooms), churches and church halls (such as the Quaker Meeting House and Paradise in Augustines), lecture theatres (including the renowned George Square Theatre), and a number of other rooms and spaces, bars and pubs, temporary structures, schools, the back of a taxi, and a double-decker bus.
Diverse organizations administer the venues; some are for profit businesses, some are nonprofits, some are active year-round, and some are only active during the Fringe. Others are based in London or abroad and transfer to Edinburgh for some, while others are locals.
So, What’s on?
The three most popular genres this year at the Edinburgh Fringe are comedy, theatre, and music. There is a huge variety of talent available to watch, with something for everyone, including stand-up comedy, Shakespeare, musicals, and site-specific performances in shipping containers.
There are dance-specific venues, cabaret in an upside-down cow, and we’ve even seen Beckett plays performed in restrooms.
After two years away, there is a bottleneck of performers bursting to perform. The official Fringe brochure was published this Thursday, but with is being so long here is a summary of some must see acts.
There are several established comedians taking the stage. Starting with ‘The Stand’, Edinburgh’s longest-running standup club. Many of the temporary Fringe venues throughout town pale in comparison to The Stands main room’s cosy, cabaret-style setting. Stewart Lee, who is doing two gigs at The Stand this year, is unquestionably at the top of the lineup. More enduring performers from the Fringe are welcomed back in The Stand, including the scathing humorist Jo Caulfield, Mark Thomas and Simon Munnery.
Other famous faces include Nish Kumar, Frankie Boyle and Frank Skinner all performing at The Assembly, a classic building in the heart of the New Town.
Another comedy venue hosting a multitude of talent this year is ‘Pleasance’, a famous cobblestone Courtyard that has be entertaining festival audiences since 1985. The lineup for this venue includes Mark Watson, Lucy Porter, Ivo Graham and Catherine Cohen.
There are also some legendary actors in attendance. Sir Ian McKellen will be bringing Hamlet to the 2022 festival, Scotland native Alan Cumming returns to the festival to head up a new dance theatre show titled ‘Burn’ and Samuel Barnett stars in a new play from Marcelo Dos Santos.
These aren’t the only famous faces associated with the event, Fleabag star Phoebe Waller–Bridge, president of the Edinburgh Festival fringe Society has been spotted in the capital, after discussing the future of the event.
Waller-Bridge said: “So much has changed in our culture and this new vision of the festival reflects that with heart and sincerity, while fiercely maintaining the wild spontaneity and creative freedom it has provided artists and audiences with for the past 75 years.
“This is a new dawn for an iconic cultural event that’s going to be more inclusive, more accessible and more outrageously spectacular than ever before.”
Music will also play a huge part in the festival. The Leith Theatre is hosting an extraordinary lineup that includes Princess Nokia’s boundary-pushing rap in addition to the body-shaking electronica of Niteworks. There’s also music from all around the world, including the Sufi ballads of Romanian folk legends Taraf de Caliu and Arooj Aftab.
Fans of techno will swarm to see the iconic Jeff Mills, while Arab Strap is a well-known indie rock band. Jazz great Herbie Hancock makes a special visit at the Edinburgh Playhouse to perform selections from his enormous discography.
Connect Festival presents iconic rock band Rage Against the Machine who will play their first Scottish headline show in 14 years, as well as tributes to music giants like Fleetwood Mac with The Fleetwood Mac Story a nostalgic celebration of the 120 million album-selling supergroup being shown.
#EdFringe
In an exclusive partnership, TikTok and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society will be putting on the first ever “Official Virtual Stage” for the festival.
With over 1.6 billion views of the #Comedy hashtag, TikTok has played a crucial role in the growth of comedy. With this, TikTok has boosted the careers of comedians like Munya Chawawa, Abi Clarke, and Sugarcoated Sisters. Over the past four years, we have witnessed creativity in every form flourish on TikTok, with the app becoming a center for creativity and a crucial platform for up-and-coming artists.
A global audience will be able to watch live performances from all of the festival’s locations.
Two digital displays on the Royal Mile, the center of Scotland’s ancient city, will display TikTok material in addition to the virtual stage. These screens will provide TikTok’s up-and-coming comedians, musicians, and actors a stage, while also introducing festival attendees to fresh talent.
The official hashtag #EdFringe will be used by TikTok creators to promote the event to millions of followers while they perform live on stage in Edinburgh for a live audience. There are various famous UK TikTok influencers/comedians such as Maddie Grace Josephs, George Clark and Arthur Hill, all with millions of followers each in the area using the hashtag.
For Fringe performers and artists, the app will also provide a programme of seminars and performance education so they can continue to take use of everything that it has to offer.
James Stafford, Head of Partnerships & Community at TikTok, said: “The Edinburgh Fringe is a unique moment that brings together emerging artists in a celebration of creativity. Our partnership places TikTok’s global community at the heart of the iconic festival, and celebrates our joint belief that creativity is for everyone. TikTok is the home of entertainment and creativity and I know our community will welcome the opportunity to discover new artists, collaborate, and be inspired.
On their website, TikTok have also quietly announced that on Sunday 14 August at 9:00pm they will be hosting a Secret Gig with one of the biggest names in comedy.
Top Tips for Attending:
Get the app to plan your day: The Official Fringe App is a terrific tool for organising your Fringe journey in advance and putting information about 3500+ performances in your pocket. It’s a great way to find concerts since you can also use it to book shows while you’re on the go and find out what’s occurring nearby shortly.
Know your way around: When scheduling back-to-back performances, make sure you have enough time to go comfortably from one location to the next. Also, bear in mind that Edinburgh is a hilly, multi-story city.
Know where to collect your tickets: There are 40+ ticket collection points located across the city of Edinburgh. It is advised to pick up your tickets at one of the convenient collection places indicated above rather than having them mailed to you and incurring the risk of them not reaching in time.
Check out the fantastic street events: To be amazed by jugglers, acrobats, fire-breathers, escapologists, and other performers, wander the Royal Mile and the Mound.