As mentioned in my previous blog, now that I have moved back
to Scotland I am trying to make an effort to go to new places and see all the
exciting things that my country has to offer.
With this in mind I took a trip to the Edinburgh festival this weekend
to experience some culture, support the arts and appreciate the work of poor
performers etc etc..
If you don’t know, the Edinburgh Festival is an annual
celebration of arts and entertainment taking place during the entire month of
August. Artists, comedians, dancers, singers, and general creative types
(hipsters) from all over the World descend on Scotland’s capital to showcase
their work. The Royal Mile in Edinburgh turns into a chaotic runway of bizarre
and wonderful street art and the whole city is buzzing. I’m pretty sure the
Edinburgh Fringe is directly responsible for the deforestation of the
rainforest with all the leaflets that are handed out, but we will overlook that
because why support the trees and ecosystem when you can support struggling performers
who have dedicated their life to ‘art’.
There is something for everyone at the Fringe. From well
known celebrities to up and coming performers plus every single drama student
in the UK you wont be short of things to do or see. Generally tickets for big
well known names sell out pretty quickly but if, like me, you are just there
for a day out there are plenty of free shows to choose from. In fact there are
so many shows that it’s literally impossible to see everything. There’s also a
lot of ‘contemporary’ street art which you won’t understand and various
promoters trying to get you to come to their show, just keep your head down,
avoid eye contact and you’ll be fine. You don’t want to be that guy who gets
peer pressured into the 1 hour poetry reading about the life cycle of an
orange, trust me, it’s not pretty.
We spent the majority of the afternoon in Cabaret Voltaire,
where there are several rooms all showcasing up and coming talent, usually of
the stand up comedy variety. Everything is free and I can honestly say I
enjoyed every performance that I saw. Like I said, this was only one venue of
the hundreds to choose from, you really need a good few days if you want to
experience the festival properly. If you
are strapped for cash take a look at http://www.freefestival.co.uk
which lists all the shows that are completely free. I would recommend buying
tickets in advance if there is anything you really want to see, then spend the
rest of the day visiting some of the free/cheaper shows which are still of a
very high standard. (mostly..)
I might return to the Fringe this week so please let me know
if you have any suggestions of things to go and see. If you are thinking of
going but haven’t quite got round to it yet – do it!! You will love it and
there isn’t long left!
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