Edinburgh Festival in August
 

Any suggestions for making reservations or getting tickets for the Edinburgh Festival this coming August? I have the Festival Booklet and our dates are 8/26-28.

Just one. Get on with it. You'll be lucky to find decent accommodation this late

This happened to me years ago - I tried to get a room for the August festival (in MAY!) and couldn't find anything at any price. Ended up pretty far outside the city. I suggest nnrobnz to book hotel NOW and don't be picky......

We have rooms. What I'm referring to is the Festival itself.....I just thought there might be a "MUST SEE" someone might recommend. tnx,

When we were there in Aug, the Fringe(Festival) was running the same time as the Festival. We did a lot of fringe street venues which were quite fun and quirky. We had to much siteseeing to do, I am afraid we could not concentrate on the Festivals. FYI, the Book Festival was there too! The city is just plain amazing when all the venues are there. We did do the Tattoo, which was the highlight of our Edinburgh trip.

I know it's received wisdom that hotels during the festival must be booked years in advance, but last year I went twice and in each case booked a four or five star hotel cheaply a few weeks beforehand.

So anyone reading who hasn't arranged their hotel yet, don't panic!

OK. The Fetival pogramme is known. If you haven't been to the Tattoo, I suppose, it's a "must see". Book whatever you fancu beyond that. As to the Fringe, half the fun of the Festival is working out what's hot and what's not.

Buy the Scotrsman and the Herald every day and sit over breakfast and work out that day's agenda; don't get uptight; and Have a ball!!

Sheila - do you know whether the Fringe programme is available anywhere before it is put on their website? Or do I really have to wait until June?

Okay; thank you all -- but what is the, "Tattoo" and the "Fringe" and can they be booked in advance. See, I'm hooking up with 5 other women and we're hiking The Borders, returning to Edinburgh afterward when I will stay and most of them will leave. I will have that 1st day ,sleepy dull-witted, trans-continental arrival aftermath to deal with until I check into my yes, 4 or 5-star hotel, booked late but gratefully completed. So I went to the Festival's website, ordered the booklet which I have received but it doesn't mention Tattoo or Fringe. . . . needing to know how much must be booked in advance vs. on the cuff.....n

I have done this enough to know what the score is.

By now the Tattoo is, faux sure, sold out.

It is not necessary to book tickets to The Fringe in advance. If you don't know what you are doing, concentrate on performances at the Observer Assembly Rooms. That is the best venue and gets the best acts.

My experience with the International Festival is that except for well known opera companies, and opening and closing events, almost everything can be purchased at The International Festival Office just beneath Edinburgh Castle after you get there.

Only book ahead for the International Festival if there is something you must see. From personal experience: Do not overbook or you will exhaust yourself and trash some of the tickets.

The Fringe is, by the way, much more fun than the International Festival--at least in my opinion.

The concert at the Rosslyn Chapel is impossible to book unless you are a donor.

Well, contrary to Lauren's posting there is some availability of tickets left for the Tattoo. But booking NOW would be a good thing to do.

Tthe Web site has the details.

http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/

The Tattoo's a sort of high grade military concert, held on the Castle Esplanade. It's quite a spectacle. Worth doing once.

The Fringe Programme is not published till the end of Juneish, so whilst, you can make an educated guess before that, you won't know what's on till then.

The Festival proper is the highbrow stuff. The Fringe is everything else- the comedy, the students, the macabre, the circuses. Performances take place everywhere- church halls, pubs, students unions, outside, in the parks on Arthur's Seat; just everywhere.

I also disagree that the best acts are at the Assembly Rooms, which are the most expensive to book, for a performer. That means that, pretty much, only established performers are there.

The up and coming; next year's big thing, will be somewhere else.

I do agree that you should not overbook. Pick something you really want to see every day and book it. Fit opportunities around them.

Remeber that you have the Book Festival, the Jazz Festival and the Film Festival too.

To Sheila & all . . . .
can't thank you enough for making all this more clear and for the website info. many tnx, n

The other thing I'd suggest for overseas visitors is to try your best to begin your festivaling only after you've overcome travel fatigue/jetlag. During the festival(s) Edinburgh is an incredibly high-energy, congested, almost overwhelming environment, no place for the alertness-compromised. Also to put special emphasis on Sheila's note that you won't know what's hot until after it's been on for a bit - IMO the best time to get to the festival is the second half of the first week or the first half of the second week, so that the buzz about the various offerings can take hold.

Also note the Film Festival has become one of the premier events in cinema in the world, so look at that schedule as early as you can.

Don't go to the festival thinking your holiday will be relaxing. Hardly.

The Fringe Programme is huge and I think there is no need to pore over it in advance. You will just get confused and overwhelmed.

The reason I suggest things at the Observer Assembly rooms is that you are more certain of seeing consistently enjoyable things there. If you have a lot of time, by all means experiment with performances at other venues. If you only have time faux one or two performances, anything at The Observer Assembly Rooms is the safest thing to do. There are a lot of terrific shows in The Fringe, but there is plenty of junk too. Do read the reviews in The Scotsman, but also remember that they do not review everything. It is just another source of information. Part of the fun of The Fringe is discovering good shows for yourself.

Unless you are from the UK, I do recommend avoiding the comedy at The Fringe because you may not understand the context--or even what they are saying. Some of the regional accents are fairly impenetrable to North Americans.

I was surprised to learn there are still Tattoo tickets available. If you have not done that extravaganza, do it. Everyone will ask you about it when you get home. It is very unlikely that you will be able to get seats for the Tattoo after arriving in Edinburgh as every tour group books that event and every performance is sold out in advance. The best Tattoo show is the late night one on Saturday when they have fireworks with it. Great! Just remember to plan on how you are going to get back after it is over because only the late buses will be running (not many of those) and the taxi queue can be daunting.

Have a great time in Edinburgh whenever you go. It is one of Faux's favorite cities!

Well I have to disagree with Faux's comment about avoiding comedy at the Fringe - whilst I appreciate her comment about some UK accents, there are actually plenty of non UK comedy artists on at the Fringe. Plus the comedy artists are IMO the best part of The Fringe. Had I not seen Rich Hall at The Fringe a few years ago I wouldn't
have known who he was, now that he is famous.

It's a shame you won't be in Edinburgh at the end of the festival - the festival fireworks are spectacular.

Some of these websites may been mentioned in previous posts but here they are again

Film Festival - www.edfilmfest.org.uk
Fringe - www.edfringe.com
Jazz Festival - www.jazzmusic.co.uk
Tattoo - www.edintattoo.co.uk
Book festival - www.edbookfest.co.uk
International Festival - www.eif.co.uk

In 3 days you really shouldn't try to do too much - you need time to just sit back and soak up the atmosphere.

Hope you have a great time.

Alison1: Rich Hall is famous? I knew him when he first started out in NYC. I am major comedy buff - your comments very helpful.

And to Faux U& Sheila: When I arrive I will be meeting up with 5 other women and we are hiking the Borders. We return to Edinburgh and I stay on with one friend who will be joined by her husband. We go from Edinburgh to Loch Lomond where they have a time share and I fly back from Glasgow. They have been to Scotland before; I have not.

One thing remains.....I have been trying to telephone for Tattoo tix & maybe they are gone but I notice the phone number given begins differently than the Fax number given. I get no answer by phone or email. I have phoned from the US/011-44-131-555-1188. the Fax numbers begins with 8707 - why the difference?
Anyone.....? Not sure anyone will check back to this Post but if either of you do, can you explain this?

Tatoo ticket are available but on selected dates and may have an obstructed view. I just spoke to the folks on the phone today to book tickets for myself. I previously went to a wedding during the festival and got a room at laterooms.com. It was the apex city grassmarket. It seems to have gone up a lot lately so I will have to find a new place. ANy ideas? end of aug???

0870 numbers are special rates. I thought the international code for the UK 00 44 etc. Are you sure the 0011 bit is right?

Sheila, we dial 011 to get international access, then the rest of the number.

Try 011-44-and then the fax number

After 4 days of no phone, no email, traveling compatriot somehow got thru online and we have Tattoo tix for 8/27, prob. obstructed as they are GBP15. Anyway, am happy to know why the prefix was different - Sheila: you really are a blessing to all visitors to your country. Can't wait for Aug -- now tell me, maybe there will be NO midges.... I know all about noseeums (what we have here/Santa Fe, NM USA)...again, tnx,nnrobnz

Faux is happy there were Tattoo tickets available for you. Even if your tickets are obstructed view, you will still enjoy it. Remember that the Tattoo goes rain or shine. If you think it might rain, bring a poncho. Umbrellas block the view of others. Faux has been very lucky with Tattoo weather. The two times she went the weather was fine!

Faux stands by her advice about the comedy. Unless you know what you are going to see, you could end up in a routine done in an accent you will not understand. It has happened to Faux. Also the jokes about personalities in British politics will go right over North American's heads (except for an occasional one about Tony Blair). It would be like a Brit trying to "get" jokes about American Senators. You just don't know all the personalities.

The important thing about Fringing is to just have a good time. I once saw 6 shows in one day and it can get very pricey. Some guy at The Scotsman once did a piece about doing 8 shows in the same day. He did that by doing them all at the Observer Assembly Rooms.

It took me a couple of times through the Festivals to really understand how Edinburgh streets are put together (and where the short cuts are). Trying to do shows all over the place is a killer. Group your shows near each other for the same day and allow for breaks for meals. You will need them.

Do not miss the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. That museum is just wonderful! I spent 3 hours there when I went, and, if they weren't closing, I would have stayed longer. It was heaven faux this history buff.

I do agree about the positive comment about the Book Festival. Faux once got on BBC Radio at a live radio show event at the Book Festival. She also bought a couple of interesting books.

The Jazz Festival can be fun as well. Faux has never gone to the Film Festival and cannot comment on that one.

Just enjoy whatever is on when you are there and have a great time!

Let me try to put your mind at rest about the Tattoo tickets. You won't be obstructed- they don't build the stands like that. You might be quite far from the action and you may be in a corner. It should still be a terrific experience. (yeah, yeah)

As to other shows- it would seem to me that you will get as big an insight into culture in a societal sort of way as any possible, by attending some off the wall stuff. There are places to go to play safe- the Assembly Rooms may be one of them.

But, for example, I saw an Asian couple (in Britain, Asian, tends to mean from the Indian sub-continent) of comedians doing a routine about being Pakistani in Luton on somewhere, which had no real meaning for me at all. I still thought it was hysterical (admittedly, it was at the Assembly Rooms). I also saw Lily Savage there at a time when noone outside Liverpool had ever heard of her. V. scary.
http://www.assemblyrooms.com/home/index.php

Incidentally they are NOT the "Observer" Assembly Rooms. They are the Assembly Rooms. "he Assembly Rooms have been at the very heart of the city's social life since first opening their doors in January 1787. Originally used for 'Assemblies' (public dances), they now host a diverse range of events of cultural and business life in the city.

The Observer simply sponsors some of the Fringe shows there.

Just remember to take your time and chill; although some time there is a huge sense of achievement in getting from the Gilded Balloon to the Assembly Rooms to and obscure church ahll in Morningside on a a schedule:)

The Fringe programme has now been published - here's a link to the website:
http://www.edfringe.com/

Jim

Topping for anyone who is interested.

Jim

I am going to top this for anyone who has not yet seen it and may be attending the Festivals in Edinburgh this summer.

Unfortunately--sniff!--Faux is not going because she just got back from Russia.

Now if I did not have to work and had infinite sums of money. . . .

Everything at the Traverse theatre is likely to be good. See www.traverse.co.uk. Their programme is part of the Fringe but the Traverse is a regular theatre for new writing and all of the visiting companies will be 'proper' theatre companies, albeit of the more offbeat variety. I would avoid like the plague anything performed by students, with the honourable exceptions of the RSAMD (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) and its Welsh equivalent.

ttt

Why did Faux forget to recommend the Traverse Theatre. Everything there is, as the previous poster said, first rate.

Enjoy the Festivals!