Edinburgh festivals - views

[Salt n Vinegar]

Hi chums. I live in Edinburgh and have done for many years. I quite often go into the city centre for the "atmosphere" of the festival/fringe, but don't actually go to many performances. (I took part in fringe performances for quite a few years but not since COVID). The price of "refreshments" at the venues is a wee bit high.

What do Edinburgh/Lothians residents think of the festivals?  I'm of the view that almost on their own the virtually year round "festivals silly seasons" justifies the imposition of a tourist tax.  What do other P&Bers think?  Do tourists pay enough to compensate for the extra burdens on city services?

Also I'm quite impressed with the online presence of the book festival. We are doing a couple of "donations" based online events that are otherwise sold out - is that the way forward? We've a few years experience of"attending Glasgow based Celtic Connections events online and really enjoyed them. Are the festivals adapting well enough to the internet age?

As a final question, should P&Bers post questions in the early morning after a couple of cheeky wee malts?

[tamthebam]

I don't mind the official Festival- classical music, Shakespeare and that. It's harmless. 

The Fringe can get to f... alkirk. It's too big, too commercial and too full of unfunny wankers

[Richey Edwards]

It should have been abolished and replaced years ago.

[ICTChris]

I live out in the ‘burbs and don’t work in the city anymore so it all kind of passes me by. Back when I lived far further in I enjoyed it, lots to see and do, loads of buzz etc. it would probably be different now that I’m older and have a family though.

The last few years we’ve taken my son in to see some shows for kids and it’s been excellent.

I can appreciate people who live slap bang in the middle of the area where the fringe is on might get a bit hacked off with all the people and noise etc but on the other hand it’s not like one of the biggest arts festivals in Europe was a secret when people moved there.

[Wee-Bey]

It's basically a 4 week jolly for pretentious arseholes from London.

It needs scaled back.

[Big Fifer]

Group of us were out on Saturday, it's always a great atmosphere in the city when the festival's on and we had a blast, but I think our previous strategy of going to Bristo Square/George Square for later on might have to be revised for next year. As a bunch of 31 year old former Edinburgh Uni attendees, we felt absolutely ancient. 

[philpy]

I never give a toss about it, but went to the EICC last Tuesday as chris kamara and Ben shephard were doing a talk show. Really good, and got to meet them both.

[Leith Green]

We do quite a lot of shows, probably because we stay close to the city centre and can walk to venues. Atmosphere is great, its busy but never any "bother" as such.

Get a mix of tickets, some early bird stuff, some of the BBC stuff which is free - it can be hideously expensive if you go full pelt.

My son is a student and has a job in one of the venues til he goes back to Glasgow - the booze prices are high and the beer quality not what I am used to, but hes getting paid pretty well so its a tradeoff I guess?

Biggest issue with the Fringe is the flat rental prices for performers / technicians etc. Edinburgh Uni (a big beneficiary of the festivals cash over August) should frankly open their doors in places like Pollock Halls for the month at reasonable rents.

Instead, what they do is screw as much cash as possible out of wealthy tourists - wankers.

As a general point, I think its got far too big - in effect an annual trade show for the TV companies and they are unlikely to want it to get smaller.

The council keep talking about how it brings money into the city, but I am no sure whos making the cash - not me.

As for tourist tax - I have paid it in Madrid, Paris, Bordeaux, and somewhere else in France over the last year or two - when hundreds of thousands of extra tourists are here, I am unclear why they cant pay £1 or so per day to deal with things like the extra bin collections etc.

Anyone suggesting it will put them off is in cloud cuckoo land.

[RiG]

I like it. Plenty of decent shows to get to over a few weeks but there is a lot of shite to sift through at times. I've seen some pretty good comedians (IMO) over the years but I do hate the crowds of folk everywhere. Even in the 9 years I lived in the city centre I felt the number of people kicking about for festival stuff seemed to increase. Apart from the COVID years obviously.