EdFest's A-Z of the Fringe

You can never truly understand Edinburgh Festival Fringe until you’ve experienced running from show to show, being bombarded with flyers and dragging yourself, coffee in hand, to an early morning show when you’re feeling a bit worse for wear from the late night shows  the evening before!

HOWEVER, EdFest is here to give you a feel for the Fest with our A - Z of the Fringe.

A is for Assembly

With 25 venues across the city this Summer, Assembly is one of the glorious EdFest venues - keep your eyes peeled for more venue info in our venue blog here!

Home to an incredible three EdFest venues, Bristo Square is one of the real hubs of the Fringe! Across Gilded Balloon’s Teviot, Pleasance’s Dome and Underbelly’s McEwan Hall, you could spend the whole month in this one square and not get bored - and there’s fantastic food and drinks across all the venues in the square to keep you going!

One of the more confusing areas of Edinburgh, Cowgate is an amazing street underneath the city known for its late night clubs and Fringe venues. This includes Underbelly's Cowgate and Just the Tonic at The Caves - two Fringe institutions! 

This year Assembly @ Dancebase has 15 incredible shows spanning a whole range of dance; whether you are an avid fan or keen to discover something new it’s absolutely worth exploring what’s on offer.

It may be a bit big-headed of us but we couldn’t not include ourselves in the Fringe round-up. To find all those bargains and pack in as many shows as possible there could only be one E is for…

Love them or hate them, flyers are a true feature of the fest. Are you a kind soul who takes every flyer they’re offered? Or are you a head down and keep walking kind of a punter, adamant you won’t be side tracked? It’s amazing seeing the inventive ways performers try to spread the word about their show.

Another glorious EdFest venue, Gilded Balloon has been running for 38 years and nurtures some of the best up and coming comedians through their famous ‘So you think you’re funny?’ competition each year, as well as showcasing amazing Scottish and international performers across their programme.

For the more restrained, or sensible, festival-goers you may manage to avoid this one altogether but roaming the streets in the morning is a sight to behold. Watch audiences with their sunglasses on in the not-so-sunny Scottish summer questioning the early morning show they booked after a late night at the festival bars!

This year there is an incredible immersive circus: IMA at the Ice Rink in Murrayfield! (That’s a lot of I’s). A short trip out of the city centre, this really is a show not to be missed. Magical.

Our third spectacular EdFest venue, Just The Tonic, has been a major Fringe player since 2002 bringing a huge range of incredible comedy year on year. 

Bubble shows, storytelling and circus shows for families, there’s so many shows for Kids across the Fringe. And with performers running around the streets promoting their shows there’s always something to keep the family entertained! 

The best medicine going. Whilst there’s theatre, cabaret, music, circus and oh so much more the Fringe has got to be best known for it’s Comedy. So many huge names were discovered at the Fringe and they keep coming back year on year alongside the new up and coming comedians starting out their career!

The Montpelier group is made up of seven bars and restaurants around Edinburgh and as a partner of ours they are offering 20% off your bill to anyone who’s booked a ticket through EdFest.com! For the whole of August. So swing by and get your scran between shows.

The Festival Fringe spans the whole city including a whole host of venues on George Street. See it transformed into its own mini festival for the summer at the Assembly Rooms and the Bijou tent in the gardens outside.

Old Town is home to a huge number of Fringe venues and you can really feel the full scale of the Fringe wandering around between Pleasance Courtyard, Bristo Sq and George Sq with performers promoting their shows, street food stalls on every corner and the general panic of audiences running from one show to the next!

Pleasance is another true icon in the EdFest family. From the Courtyard to the Dome their bright yellow signs bring sunshine to even the most rainy Edinburgh days. Their programme has hosted some of the best in Theatre and Comedy since 1985!

If Drag is what you live for, we have so many Queens across the Fringe this year - just take a look here and find some old favourites or discover someone new!

If you’ve got time to kill, or just want a whole host of free entertainment, take a walk from Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle and witness buskers, magicians, living statues - come rain or shine! 

We love our pals at the Scotsman - from ticket giveaways to ongoing reviews and show highlights they’re an amazing source of information and inspiration for what to see at the Fringe!

New this year to the EdFest family, theSpaceUK are a fantastic addition to the team bringing over 400 shows to the EdFest programme! Stop by one of their venues and see some of their incredible programming with a real focus on grassroots and original work.

A mighty venue in the EdFest team, from the iconic purple cow in George Sq to the circus hub on the meadows you’ll no doubt find tonnes of Fringe favourites across Underbelly.

The Edinburgh Fringe can be an intense experience. When you’re out all day and night, looking after yourself can quickly reach the bottom of your list. If you’re feeling a bit run down, our top tip is to have some rest and make sure you eat some vegetables - especially if you’re performing!

What would a Scottish Summer festival be without a little downpour. No. 1 piece of advice, always pack a waterproof! You can head out for the day in brilliant sunshine and by lunchtime have experienced every season going. So layers, layers, layers.

There really is something for everyone across the Fringe including an endless supply of late night risky, unfiltered and adult rated for late at night - check out what’s on offer late night here.

Top tip of the Fringe in our mind is the classic ‘just say Yes’ - there’s never a better opportunity to try something new and take a chance on an act you’ve never seen before - then you can always say ‘I saw them when they were playing to an audience of 20 and now they’re selling out arenas’.

The last but oh by NO means least the final jewel in the EdFest crown: ZOO Venues. With an amazing programme including a huge array of dance and physical theatre from international artists.