It’s practically here, the Edinburgh Fringe is now starting. It’s an exciting time where there’s thousands of shows to see. It’s possible to be entertained almost every hour of the day!
How does one deal with such wonder? What’s the best way to enjoy the Fringe? Also, how do you avoid making all the locals want to commit crimes?
Let’s explore together.
First some background, then a bit of advice and etiquette. This etiquette and advice for the Edinburgh Fringe has been gained from experience as well as conversation with people with other experience. If you’re looking for recommendations for what to see, we have some of those on the recommendations page.
Background
The Edinburgh Fringe is more properly known as the Festival Fringe. It began life in 1948 after the Edinburgh International Festival of 1947 forgot to invite comedians.
People love to laugh and the openness of the Fringe, which let anyone perform instead of only professionals, meant the Fringe grew larger than the official Festival.
With the addition of other festivals, such as the Military Tattoo (1950), August eventuality became our busiest month.
How busy is August?
Numbers vary year on year but the conservative estimate says the population of the city basically doubles from 500 000 to 1 million. To add to this, most of those 500 000 do not live in the city centre, Edinburgh has a huge number of neighbourhoods and outlying towns that are counted in the population statistics.
It is a definite issue in terms of space, though a lot of it is much worse in the very heart of the city and improves a lot once you’re a couple streets away.
Still, even a room in a 10-bed hostel becomes £100 a night, about 4 times the regular price.
Edinburgh Fringe Etiquette
The main thing locals would probably wish visitors knew is that this is a living city, even if it looks like an amusement park at this time of the year. We’re still here, working, trying to get our kids places, etc.
Most of us get that we live in a place unlike most others and this can be unusual for visitors. Fringe time is certainly not regular for any of us either. Here’s some guidelines to make it easier.
Rule #1: be aware of space
Small pavements (sidewalks for the Yanks)
Edinburgh Fringe is cursed with tiny amounts of space on the street for pedestrians. It’s occasionally made smaller by adverts. Try not to use all of it.
If you need to take a picture or check a map, or anything that involves stopping, try to make sure you are not going to cause a collision or obstruction.
Large groups
It feels like every morning, throughout the entire year, I face the same difficulty. There are a couple of hotels where coach tour groups meet outside. They’ve all got massive bags, they don’t seem to be looking at anything special, and for some reason they can’t hear unless they are shouted at. If you find yourself as part of a large group, try and break the mould and keep an eye on what’s happening around you.
Know your queues
There are two main sorts of queue to be aware of, standard and pub. Standard is easy, you stand behind the person who goes before you. Pub is a little more complicated, you stand at the bar in any vacant space and you wait to be served. People behind the bar tend to know who arrived in what order and will get to you when they can. If they try to serve you before someone else you know was here first, simply tell them “they were here first”, and you are guaranteed to be next.
Also, quick note for pub ordering, if you are ordering multiple drinks and one of them is a Guinness, you say the Guinness first because that gives the barman or lady a chance to start it while you’re still talking.
Rule #2: be polite
Staff
Staff are people, too. This extends to people working service jobs at hotels, waiters, tour guides and flyerers. It costs you nothing to not insult people, disrupt them when they’re in the middle of doing something (like midway through a story), and if you aren’t interested in a show then don’t take a flyer and bin it – just say you’re busy.
At the end of the day, we’re all just trying our best and I don’t think it makes anyone’s day better to be a bad person.
Bring cash, too
Speaking from experience, most street performers take card payments. However, sometimes you might find a new performer who hasn’t invested in a card machine yet, and they might do a performance that absolutely blows your socks off – I’ve seen it happen. Having some cash for such occurrences is very important as the Fringe is the time of year the performers try and earn as much as they can and they deserve it.
In venues, listen to instructions/read signs
Many shows will have ushers and staff to get you to your seat, but some may not and performers themselves must do it. Listen to them when they tell you to move into the centre or move forward. Several shows will sellout and they need to be able to fit people in. From a performers perspective, too, it’s weird to have everyone sit miles away from you.
Be prepared to queue
It’s a sort of in-joke how much the British love queuing. It is taken quite seriously during the Fringe. Do not jump places in line. Have something to read or spark a conversation to pass the time.
Edinburgh Fringe Advice
To make sure you have the best time, here’s advice.
Your mobile data will become useless
Edinburgh as a city has a population of approximately 500 000. During the Edinburgh fringe festival, this doubles, but it seems like our mobile coverage is designed for a city much smaller. It is not made better by the valleys of the Old Town, and the concentration of people.
Do not become completely reliant on WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger. The best thing for you is to revert to SMS text messages. These seem to get through more consistently and faster.
It’s alternatively a good idea to have a meeting time and spot prearranged when you are in a decent Wifi spot.
Do not over schedule
Many other pieces of advice will follow on from this, but what I mean here is not to book too many events back to back. You’ll end up having to run from place to place. Maybe even leaving things before they get to the best bit, you’ll never know!
An example would be if you have breakfast at 10:30, book a walking tour at 11:30 to 13:30, book the castle for entry between 13:30 and 14:30, and have a show at 15:00. Sure, it possible that would all go off without a hitch. It’s also possible there could be a queue at breakfast, walking tours can be delayed, getting to the castle can be very difficult (because ancient fortresses are not designed to be entered by large groups, quite the opposite), and what if you really love the castle but have to run out so you can see your show?
Give yourself a buffer. You’ll enjoy the Edinburgh Fringe more if you relax a bit between activities.
Plan your meals
It might seem a little basic to some or like it would ruin the spur of the moment but, honestly, there’s 500 000 people looking for food at the same time, do you want to be the one left hungry?
You don’t need to have it all figured out but a decent idea for what’s available and whether you’ll need a reservation is a good idea.
Fortunately, there’s a lot of food trucks available, too, especially at places like George Square, and the queues are not bad if you’re early.
Google Maps can give unrealistic estimates of time
Going back to over scheduling. If you’ve based your perfect itinerary off Google Maps? Well, you know the expression:
If you want God to laugh, show ‘em your Google Maps based itinerary of the Edinburgh Fringe.
Basically, it’s often wrong. With the crowds, walking can take twice as long. With the overly large coaches clogging the roads at busy junctions, road traffic can be worse than ever.
If you bear this in mind, you might have an understanding for why not to chain shows back to back.
Sometimes there are venues run by the same operator with similar names which are multiple streets away. Definitely check your tickets and don’t assume anything.
Especially in the age of AI itineraries, did I tell you I recently got misdirected by a guest’s AI itinerary which was 9 years out of date? It tried to take us to the wrong harbour for a boat.
Watch the roads
The traffic in the inner city is normally not too difficult as most cars are not trying to kill anyone. During the Edinburgh Fringe however we are greeted by an immense lot of traffic who do not seem to be aware of where they are in the slightest.
This is tourism, either individual motorists or it’s coach drivers who have a schedule to keep and don’t see a problem with ploughing through amber lights into crowds of people.
Additionally, we drive on the correct side of the road, unlike a huge part of the rest of the world for various historical accidents.
Look right, look left, then look right again while crossing.
Take a fan (and thank Katy for this advice)
Occasionally, we do have our spells of heat outside. Even failing that, though, an average Fringe performance takes place in a back room with about 15 people. It’s a lot of bodies in a small environment. The heat can be fierce.
It’s good to have a fan, or magazine that can be used as a fan.
Have fun with it
Edinburgh Fringe is a special time of year where you can see some of the best up and coming and cult talent of the world performing in one city. It’s a great thing to visit for a couple of days, and it’s even better if as many people as possible are working to not get in each there’s way too much while also seeking their best enjoyment.
The Edinburgh Fringe is an ideal place to meet people, I have met some of the most interesting people in my life during it. Make sure you are representing yourself well or you might just miss out on the chance for an unforgettable experience.
Make sure to come along, have a great time, book a walking tour, and hopefully you’ll love it so much you’ll come back more. We tend to have that effect on people.
The writer of this piece is going to work like a dog during the Edinburgh Fringe, though his dog will probably stay home.
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