The Edinburgh Fringe Festival - A celebration of arts and entertainment

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place this August from the 2nd to the 26th in Scotland’s capital city.

From big names to unknown artists, the festival showcases a great selection of theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and events. So with thousands of performances to pick from, Heather Welsh takes a look at just a few of the key acts you should be sure to check out!

Arthur’s Quest: A Medieval Musical

Category: Musicals and Operas
Venue: TheSpace @ Venue45
Dates/Times: 2-17 August, 15:10pm

A handful of YMTers have written, directed and are performing in a musical happening at the Fringe this year! Director Tom Kitney, writers Lydia Shaw and Ed Court and performer Ryan Heenan have all worked with YMT and are now part of the exciting cast for this vibrant British show. Arthur’s Quest is based on the medieval legend of King Arthur and with dragons, swordfights and a touch of magic there’s something for everyone. Featuring a unique, folk-influenced score and an array of interactive content, the musical follows Arthur’s story.

This Is Soap: The Improvised Soap Opera

Category: Comedy
Venue: C Theatre
Dates/Times: 31 July – 26 August, 13:15pm

Ever thought that you were living out your very own soap opera? Or that you had the best ideas to create one? Well now you can! Making a return in C Theatre’s 22nd year, this is the comedy soap that you control. The creators dramatize and improvise your very own soap opera, from Olympic storylines inspired by your suggestions to ideas from daily festival events and the world of TV soaps, every day is different!  This is live, improvised “Battily inspired” (Evening Standard) soaps for you to enjoy.

Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast

Category: Exhibition
Venue: City Art Centre
Dates/Times: Mon-Sat: 10:00-17:00, Sun 12:00-17:00 £5.00 (£3.50)

If you like fashion and photography, you’ll love this. The internationally acclaimed exhibition showcases over 150 rare photographs and original magazines from the Condé Nast archives. Condé Nast Publications launched the career of several famous fashion photographers via magazines like Vogue and Glamour. Spanning the last 10 decades, the exhibition displays early works by some of the biggest names in fashion photography including Helmut Newton and David Bailey as well as some newer photographers too. Strike a pose!

Snakes! The Musical

Category: Musicals and Operas
Venue: Just the Tonic at The Caves
Dates/Times: 1-25 August, 22:20pm
Suitability: 16+ (contains strong language)

Winner of the ‘Pick of The Fringe’ award at Reading Fringe Festival, this is a musical about making a musical! A group of young actors have written one based on a film about some snakes on a place, the only catch is that they need £50 million to produce it! With rave reviews so far, this show takes a closer look at modern entertainment, addresses the compromise of artistic merit for box office returns and demonstrates you should never work with (venomous) animals…!

Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum

Category: Music
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate
Dates/Times: 1-25 August, 20:50pm

Australian rhythm and word act Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum are a mix of heart-felt vocalist/guitar player and a world-class beatboxer! Armed with only a guitar, unique set of vocals and an even more unique voice box capable of producing trumpet and drum sounds – the pair create a totally unique act. Expect the un-expected with these two!