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Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Pleasance Courtyard signpost

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a massive annual three-week arts event. This year there were 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows in 294 venues in the city. I've been told the Festival is the largest non-religious gathering of people in the world. Music, traditional theater, dance, circus acts, stand-up comedy, improv, performance art, and more are all to be found here.

In five days, we went to twenty shows. We booked just over half our tickets in advance which is probably unusual; most people probably make their picks on the day or just before but we'd never been before and didn't have a sense of how likely any particular show might sell out. Next time (there will definitely be a next time), we'll still do a fair amount of planning, picking shows and days, but order fewer tickets ahead, especially if we arrive during previews again.

Our Festival Schedule
Date / Time Show / Performer Venue
Friday, August 5th
13:30 The Starship Osiris Underbelly Med Quad
14:30 Rhapsodes Pleasance Courtyard (Cabaret Bar)
16:40 William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance Beyond)
20:30 Camille O'Sullivan: The Carny Dream Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette)
Saturday, August 6th
14:00 Counting Sheep Summerhall @ Kings Hall (Kings Hall)
15:55 Meet Fred Summerhall Festival (Old Lab)
19:00 BEASTS Present Mr. Edinburgh 2016 Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome)
21:00 Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters
Sunday, August 7th
14:10 Hamlet in Bed Pleasance Courtyard (Forth)
16:00 Ada/Ava by Manual Cinema Underbelly Potterrow (Topside)
Monday, August 8th
11:30 Krapp 39 Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker One)
14:20 Glasgow Girls Assembly Hall (Main Hall)
18:00 Torte e Mort: Songs of Cake and Death Assembly George Square Theatre (Omnitorium)
19:25 Puddles Pity Party: Let's Go! Assembly George Square Gardens (Piccolo Tent)
20:45 Starman Assembly George Square Gardens (Spiegeltent Palais Du Variete)
22:20 Hell to Play The Liquid Room
Tuesday, August 9th
14:30 Bedtime Stories Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette)
16:15 Paul F Taylor: Sour Apes Bannermans
18:00 Showstopper! (The Improvised Musical) Pleasance Courtyard (The Grand)
21:45 Police Cops Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome)