Six Arts Festivals
When people talk of going to the Edinburgh Festival, this is a misnomer. There are in fact six international arts festivals taking place independently in the city between late July and the end of August - covering music from opera to jazz, drama, military tattoo, comedy, mime, street theatre, dance, literature, children's shows, films, the visual arts and every other cultural genre you would care to name is sure to be performed in Edinburgh this summer. Each Festival - Jazz and Blues, the International Festival, the Fringe, the Book Festival and the Film Festival are all separately managed with their own distinct programme but in essence this offers a rich and stimulating cultural feast, with the freedom to move from one Festival to the other, theatre to concert hall, show to show, with a selection of events for every age, taste and interest.
Each of the main festivals has its own unique Web site:
You can divide your day moving from an early Fringe show over breakfast, a mid-morning classical concert, after lunch a visit to a gallery, followed by a late afternoon Book Festival event, then off to the theatre or the premiere of a new film, finishing with late night jazz or comedy revue.
57th Edinburgh Festival Fringe
This year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from 3 - 25 August and the statistics are phenomenal. There are 21,594 performances of 1,541 shows by 668 companies from all around the world, in 207 different venues. There are the well known Fringe theatres and venues such as the Traverse Theatre (illustrated here), renowned year round for new drama, The Assembly Rooms and the Pleasance for an eclectic mix of international theatre, dance and comedy, the Gilded Balloon for both established and new talent in music and comedy. But look around in every nook and cranny for something uniquely different. And all around the city, churches, underground cellars, school halls, hotels, clubs and pubs, gardens, streets and alleyways, - and even a double decker bus and a Ford Escort car will be the performance spaces for great live entertainment. New for 2003 is The Pod, a 400 seat theatre being created on Festival Square and Jongleurs a new comedy venue.
The Fringe brochure is over 200 pages long, listing all the shows alphabetically under Comedy, Theatre, Children's, Dance and Music so that you find the type of show you prefer.
A third of all the shows are World Premieres, 7% UK premieres and 4% European premieres - so you can be sure of finding something new and exciting. New plays which look rather intriguing include Like Water Like Chocolate based on Laura Esquivel's sensual novel, A Smile Fell in the Grass, based on the work of Sylvia Plath, 
The Audition by Strawberry Theatre - described as Reality Theatre; Those Eyes That Mouth, by the award winning Grid Iron theatre company, One Two by the remarkably innovative Suspect Culture company. Another name to watch out for is David Benson, who shot to fame a few years ago with his one man show about the actor Kenneth Williams. This year he is back with a new show called Star Struck at the Assembly Rooms.
The renowned actors Steven Berkoff and Susannah York are back in town with their respective shows, as well as Antony Hopkins who will be in Edinburgh to direct a play about the poet, Dylan Thomas. Theatre Babel brings a new production of Thebans by Liz Lochhead and Gregory Burke unveils his new play, The Straits, following his previous international success with Gagarin`s Way.
Edinburgh Theatre Arts is celebrating the first performance of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in Paris in 1953. They are bringing a unique Scottish flavour to this classic production. Enjoy a finely distilled wee dram of Scottish tragi-comedy with elements of Laurel & Hardy, Francie & Josie and Tony Hancock to name but a few.. that could have been performed in a Govan Music Hall. Why are we here...? What is life all about..?
But if you prefer Classics then you can be sure of finding Shakespeare, Ibsen, Strindberg, Pinter, Miller and Mamet to name a few well known names. There are two productions of Hamlet - one of which will take place half an hour out of town at Dalkeith Country Park, performed by the Fairbanks Theatre of Alaska. If they have come all this way to perform Hamlet, then they deserve a good audience.!
You also have the choice of two versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth - including an outdoor promenade production starting in a graveyard and walking through the cobbled streets and courtyards of the Old Town. Also Titus Andronicus and Timon of Athens - or for an hour's wonderful early morning entertainment go and see Shakespeare for Breakfast, with free croissants.
Comedy
Comedy is one of the most popular sections. Many well known TV stand up comedians return to the Fringe year after year including Julian Clary, Rhona Cameron, Jo Brand (pictured here), Dave Gorman, Bill Bailey, Daniel Kitson, Rob Newman, Lee Hurst, Mel & Sue, Rob Brydon, and Ross Noble. There's even a French version of Monty Python's Flying Circus, direct from Paris and the Avignon Festival.
And one tip is to head to the Edinburgh Comedy Room at the Tron for a selection of world class comedy. It was here that Doug Stanhope performed his first British debut in 2002 and brought the house down - and went home with a major Fringe award. You never know who you may have the chance to see there this year.
Music
Music is live and loud courtesy of the T on the Fringe music festival featuring a line up of the one and only Kelly Osbourne, Ash, Manu Chao and Dirty Vegas appearing at the Corn Exchange. Elsewhere, the rest of the music programme features classical, blues, jazz and folk concerts.
Making the Most of the Festivals
A fact - it would take you 4 years and 143 days to see every performance back to back. So as you will not be able to see everything, pick what takes your fancy, read the media reviews once the Fringe has started and listen to the buzz about town and word of mouth recommendations.
The main thing when tackling the Fringe is to enjoy the whole crazy, 'anything goes', innovative playground of live performance. Nearly half the shows are under £5 for a ticket so you can take a risk on a new show. But for a few hours of free entertainment, simply walk down the High Street, for a colourful display of street theatre, jugglers, fire eaters and musicians.
It's the largest arts festival in the world - so come to Edinburgh for the time of your life.
