The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is expected to return this summer, with the entire month of August in the Scottish capital dedicated to the arts as some of the best theatre, comedy and street entertainment take over.
It’s long been one of the best places to get your comedy fix and this year will be no different, particularly as many festival-goers will be enjoying their first holidays and nights out of the year.
It really is a laugh a minute, so why not take a break from your bingo and slot play, and celebrate the festival in true style with these intriguing facts about the Edinburgh Fringe…
It’s the third biggest ticketed event on the planet
Edinburgh is one of the biggest and best arts festivals in the world, but did you know it also competes with many other major events, even in sport. The Fringe is actually the third biggest ticketed event on the planet, with only the Olympics and the World Cup pulling bigger numbers.
There are 3,000 shows across the festival
While we largely associate the Fringe with comedy, there are over 3,000 shows across a range of different genres from magic to poetry, jazz, opera and even acrobatics.
Life began for the Fringe over 70 years ago
The Edinburgh Fringe sparked to life in 1947 as a rebellion against the Edinburgh International Festival. Eight performing groups turned up to the festival uninvited but rather than going home with their tails between their legs, they decided to play on the ‘fringe’ of the festival, and thus started a new trend and a festival which would go on to become iconic.
You’d require eight years to watch all the shows
There have been over four million minutes of entertainment performed at the Festival which would take a staggering 2,855 days to watch back-to-back.
It’s among the most diverse festivals around
You won’t just find UK entertainers performing at the Fringe, in fact, each year people arrive from all around the world. In 2017, performers turned up from 62 different countries, while the audience themselves came from far and wide.
It’s chance to see stars get their big break
The Edinburgh Fringe has been the festival that kick started the career of many famous faces, from comedians to actors and beyond. The likes of Steve Coogan, Billy Connolly, Jude Law and Mike Myers all got their big break, while you still see many established names come back to play each and every year.
There are hundreds of free shows
It’s quite easy to enjoy the Fringe on a budget, and while accommodation can be pricey during the period, there are hundreds of free shows, as well as plenty of ticket offers too. You could do an entire festival without the need to buy a ticket, while for those travelling in even numbers there are also dozens of two for one ticket offers. So, what’re you waiting for?
