by Mimi Chong
The walk down High Street to the official box office is short, but it takes the uninitiated a prodigious amount of time to get there. There are just too many distractions. Fire-eaters and jugglers draw crowds and your attention. Street musicians add their varied voices to that of the pedestrians – a jester in motley strumming a lute; a brass band; and naturally, bagpipers in Highland dress. A procession of jingling belly-dancers proffer fliers for their show, which you attempt to refuse because you already have a sheaf in your hands. Posters beckon – “Got to Do Godot,” “Tea With Brahms,” “International Photography 2000.” A flea market is just around the corner … Finally, somehow, you disengage yourself (but briefly!) from the attractions, make it to the box office to procure a free magazine-sized programme, and gape at the sheer amount of events that you’ll never manage to see a fraction of. Theatre, music, dance, visual art … it’s all in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Held annually in August, the Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. Originally a smattering of uninvited theatre groups determined to perform at the first official Edinburgh International Festival, “the Fringe” has since then developed a society devoted to organizing the artists that congregate every year to the Scottish capital – this year, with over 600 companies performing 1350 shows in 200 venues. Each company uses small, unconventional theatre spaces and take all their own financial risks, flourishing or failing according to public demand. Therefore, the Fringe remains a platform for diverse, free artistic expression, and that, combined with the low prices solicited for each performance, attracts countless people from all over the world every year. And it all takes place in Edinburgh, the historic capital of Scotland. Edinburgh is a small, quaintly romantic city, sprung around a castle atop a hill. It is a city to be walked, veined with winding, grey streets and stone staircases, picturesquely untidy with shops, parks, pubs, cafes, and old stone buildings. During Festival season, throngs of people pack the city’s attractions to the wee hours. Not merely tourists passing through, Festival-goers are an amiable lot, willing to tip buskers, easy to strike up conversations with – they as much as the performers contribute to the atmosphere of bonheur permeating Edinburgh. That bustling, yet leisurely feeling was one of the things that struck me most during my stay in Edinburgh this past summer – a stay that was lamentably short, for I had no idea beforehand that the Festival Fringe would be so much fun. Venues are literally all over the place – makeshift stages are set up inside places like pubs and churches – it is easy to just walk in, purchase a ticket, and hope for a good show. I was lucky and struck gold the few times I did this; it is possible, however, to find yourself unwittingly watching a bunch of local high school students’ semblance of a play, with teenybopper music droning in the background. To easily avoid that torture, you can pick up a copy of the Scotsman, which has daily reviews of Fringe events, or simply talk to people. And if performances are not your thing, there are always exhibits, markets, and activities you can participate in – I spent one of my most entertaining evenings at a ceilidh (pronounced “KAY-lee” – such is the magic of Gaelic), a traditional Scottish dance complete with folk music, dance instructors, native Scots – and if you don’t dance, plenty of whiskey. The Fringe is much easier on a student budget than any of the other Festivals happening in Edinburgh during summer: a ticket to the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo costs over 50 pounds while a Fringe ticket averages 5 pounds – 4 for concessions. Many shows are free and you nearly never have to make reservations. The only planning problem you might encounter is accommodation – no matter what type lodgings you can afford it is strongly advised that you book well in advance. And if you like theatre, or dance, or music, or crafts, or pub-hopping, or just seeing new places, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to go, and feel the Fringe for yourself. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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