Description: The Edinburgh Fringe Festival takes place every August for around 3 weeks and it's the biggest arts festival in world. For these 3 weeks every inch of spare space is transformed into a Fringe Venue. From established venues and theatres to open spaces such as Bristo Square which hosts the E4 Udderbelly every year the city is vibrant and the atmosphere is fantastic.
For me and for many like me the Fringe means comedy, but it is actually so much more than that. Shows during the festival range from comedy, children's shows, cabaret, music, musicals, opera, theatre, arts - the whole lot. There really is something for everyone.
The organisers of the Fringe do a fantastic job in ensuring that the Fringe Festival is accessible to everyone. There are shows to suit all budgets and in recent years there has been an increasing number of free shows.
The first week of the Fringe sees many acts offer 2-4-1 on tickets to see their shows and increasingly more common are free view shows the weekend before the Fringe officially starts where you can pick up tickets that are heavily discounted.
Accommodation is at a premium during this time and it can often be expensive and hard to come by. However, a good place to check for affordable accommodation is with Edinburgh's Universities, Edinburgh, Napier and Heriot-Watt as they lease out Halls of Residence during August for around £40 a night.
The Fringe also brings with it extended opening hours and the pubs will stay open until 3am and clubs are open until 5am. There are plenty of Late night shows that run into the wee small hours that take advantage of the extended opening times.
I have been attending the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the past 10 years and it's a truly fantastic month to be in the city of Edinburgh. For me it's better than the month of December when the famous Hogmanay Street Party, German Markets etc take place. August and the Fringe is the highlight of my year as an Edinburgh Resident.
As a rule of thumb, I would say that if you are short of time you should see at least 1 act that you have never heard of as well as one you have heard off. Many up and coming stars ply their trade in the early days in Edinburgh so you could be watching the next big thing.
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