francetrip

We will be in Edinburgh in 6 days having just booked. Would love to understand the best way to maximize the Fringe Festival at this late date. We will be there for four days and love the concept. How to turn into a great reality?

Any specific recommendations would be great.

Thanks,

Susan

WillTravel

I got some good ideas on this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34783934

A few sites:
http://www.edfringe.com
http://www.freefringe.com
http://www.eif.co.uk
http://www.scotsman.com/

caroline_edinburgh

Are you only interested in the Fringe ? Depending on how you count it, it's only one of 11 festivals on in Edinburgh this month. The other main ones are the International Festival (the original festival, and WillTravel's www.eif.co.uk link), the Book Festival & the Film Festival. See www.edinburgh-festivals.co.uk for details of & links to all of them.

IMO the best thing is to buy the Scotsman newspaper when you get here - it has a festival supplement with much the biggest number of reviews in, each day Mon-Sat. Look at the section near the back headed "See It, Skip It" for a round up of all the shows to which they've given the best rteviews so far.

My top tips so far in the Fringe are 'Black Watch' (which however is now sold out) & 'Improbable Frequency' at the Traverse. Can't recommend anything yet in the International Festival as it only started last night & my first show is tonight.

IMO the best Fringe venues are as follows.

1) The Traverse Theatre : in a category of its own, Fringe-wise, as it is a proper theatre specialising in new writing year-round, & most things there are reliable. During the Fringe they host lots of good quality visiting theatre companies. Also has a cool cafe bar which is good for pitstops.

2) Aurora Nova - mainly European dance & physical theatre, in an old church. Little in the way of facilities but a real Fringe atmosphere & some of the best shows. I am particularly looking forward to 'The Convent' - I saw a show by the same (Norwegian) company last year & it was hilarious & brilliant.

3) The Pleasance Courtyard. Lots of spaces grouped around a courtyard, mainly comedy which I'm not so interested in, but a good and atmospheric place to to hang out if the weather's good.

francetrip

Thanks for the tips and keep them coming. I have also found another website with reviews - http://www.thestage.co.uk/edinburgh/reviews/

I am trying to see what is available.

Is it easy to get tickets on the day of, without waiting endlessly in line or facing disappointment?

Thanks

susan

caroline_edinburgh

H Susan. Depends what you want tickets for. Some things are already sold out, and others will sell out before the day of performance. The worst place to go now is the Fringe box office on the Royal Mile, as the queues will be horrendous. Not sure what it will be like at the new Fringe ticket tent on Princes Street but no better I'd expect. It's usually quicker to buy tickets at the venues themselves, certainly at the Traverse & Aurora Nova. The queues at the Assembly Rooms & Pleasance can be long too : so if you want tickets for shows there, book by phone first so you can then go to the shorter queue for picking up prepaid tickets.

WillTravel

I just bought a bunch of tickets online at www.edfringe.com for next week. I didn't purchase more than two shows per day for my daughter and me (and we have some separate shows), so we'll have a little spontaneity and time to do other things too.

WillTravel

We're at the Fringe now and having a great time. There is one show where it was helpful to buy tickets in advance. Otherwise, the prebought tickets have been more a hindrance than anything, as it's so easy to rearrange your schedule on the fly and buy tickets at the venue otherwise. Luckily we didn't have too many.

caroline_edinburgh

Up to a point, Will - some things are now sold out.