By Anne-Louise Fortune
With shows such as The Dark Room, Buffy Revamped, and The Society For New Cuisine coming to the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, there’s plenty for STARBURST Readers to do in Scotland this August. Here’s some handy survival tips for anyone looking to indulge in the world’s largest performance arts festival.
The Edinburgh Festivals are massive, sprawling events that take over the city each August. There’s a lot to see, a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it all. It can feel frantic, and be exhausting. Whilst there are lots of Festivals happening, the biggest in terms of numbers is The Fringe. Here then are some tips to help you cope, physically, and emotionally, with four weeks when the population of Edinburgh swells to 2.7 million people, all of whom are trying to see the Next Big Thing.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint!
However long you’re in the city, whether it’s a long weekend or the whole month, you can expect to do a lot of walking. There is also no way to avoid the hills that form the core of the city – irrespective of where any particular journey starts and ends; it’s a peculiarity that there will always be an uphill section. Therefore, your choice of footwear should absolutely favour comfort and support over style. Don’t worry that you’ll be conspicuous – other people will be making similar choices. Choose wisely – your feet will thank you.
Food, glorious food!
If you’re lucky, you’ll be in accommodation that includes a Full Scottish Breakfast, and you should take the opportunity to fill up on lorne sausage, links and haggis each morning. Don’t worry about the calories, you’ll burn them all off on those hills!
If you’re on a budget, the various small city-centre branches of supermarkets, with their sandwich and salad bundle deals will provide a good selection at wallet-friendly prices.
If you’re in a hurry, then the street vendors in the walk between Bristo and George Squares will have hot, tasty food in your hands in minutes, and, along with the permanent take-away outlets on Forrest Road, they stay open until the early hours for when you need something to nibble on when just left a late show.
Pass the highlighters!
The Fringe Festival programme, available both online and in printed form, is a behemoth that lists all the events taking place, and for some people, going through this, working out what shows appeal, and then drawing up a detailed, cross-referenced, multi-coloured spreadsheet setting out what they’re going to see, when and where, occupies a large amount of each June and July.
Whilst this is completely valid, and in many ways a good idea, it’s probably best not to overplan. Consider leaving some time free every day, just to sit down and relax, or to see a show you haven’t considered, that is getting ‘buzz’. The Fringe Festival app is promising a new feature this year where you shake your phone, and the app suggests a show near you starting soon that has tickets available. This is a great way to discover shows you’d never otherwise have seen, and who knows, you might find yourself watching the next ‘Fleabag’.
Small is beautiful!
There’s a tendency to focus time and attention on the venues located on the Royal Mile, and around the University, where the ‘Big Four’ venue operators all have a presence. But there is so much more to the Fringe. Slightly further out, especially around the edges of the central areas, are lots of smaller venues, including those run by The Free Fringe.
It’s in these often overlooked corners of the city that emerging performers hone their skills, and you might just see a really great show that you get to tell your friends about. Word of mouth is invaluable for these smaller shows, so if you find something you love, pay it forward and tell the world about it on your socials.
And now for something completely different!
The focus of the Fringe has become the stand-up comedy shows. Whilst these are great, and encompass the whole range of funny stuff, from character work to rapid-fire one-liners, and everything in between, there are also offerings from a huge range of other art forms.
The Fringe (and the International Festival) both encompass theatre, dance and music, but perhaps one of the lesser known aspects of the Fringe are the events and exhibitions. From cookery demonstrations, to ceramic and sculpture displays, there are quirky and perhaps unexpected experiences on offer across the city.
Taking some time away from the crowds is probably a good idea, and doing something different is what the Fringe is all about, so don’t neglect those deep pink or dark green edged pages in the programme when you’ve got your highlighters out!
I want it all!
Finally, try not to worry about not seeing this year’s award winners – it’s becoming more common for shows to have a longer lifespan, so if you miss it this year, it might well come back next year, or be staged in London, or in one of the many other fringe festivals happening throughout the UK and internationally.
We’ve done the maths, and you can probably see no more than 5% of the shows that form a part of the Fringe – and even then we think you’d be exhausted a week in. FOMO (‘Fear of Missing Out’) is very real at the Fringe, but you cannot possibly see every show, and we’d urge you to focus on the great shows you did see, rather than worrying about those you didn’t.
Find out more about the Edinburgh Fringe at edfringe.com.
