FESTIVAL FRINGE

Here's a short (but powerful) post from the Festival Fringe back in August. Held every year in Edinburgh the Fringe is the largest of the city's annual festivals and this year it comprised 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues! Subsequently, the city is literally heaving with people throughout August, with almost 2 million people attending this year - contributing an estimated ₤75 million to the local economy. Needless to say - it's a big festival and an excellent time to visit the city! We managed to see a couple of shows this year, below are a couple of pics from one of them..

During the festival some of the Royal Mile is closed to traffic and is taken over by performers of all descriptions, creating a real carnival atmosphere. Here's one we stopped at briefly, outside St Giles Cathedral..

We only stopped briefly as we were on our way to the Speigeltent for a couple of preshow beverages. For anyone who hasn't visited a Spiegeltent you should do so, there's always a unique atmosphere to go with your beer and wine..

After a few drinks and some dinner we left the Spiegeltent and headed up to the oddly yet appropriately named Udderbelly Pasture, home to the giant upside-down purple cow!..

It's a cool spot to come whether you're seeing a show or not, with a multitude of different bars, bands, seating areas and food stalls spread out beneath the trees..

Just a small fraction of the artists/shows on every night during the festival. These posters were on the wall opposite us as we queued for seats to our show. Unfortunately, with a couple of beers under the belt nature called and Evan had to make a dash for the bathroom, leaving Carly to hold our spot in the line..

It turned out to be a good move though. Whilst walking by the stage door he noticed the man we were lining up to see! The one and only Henry Rollins. This man is a living legend - Grammy-award winning former frontman of the seminal rock outfit Black Flag, lead singer of his own group - Rollins Band - as well as actor, prolific traveller and writer and one of the most intelligent people we've ever heard speak (on a plethora of topics). Needless to say the fan inside came to the surface and it was time to ask for a photo, something neither of us have ever really felt the need to do before, but something that had to be done this time!..

Needless to say, upon returning to the queue and showing Carly the photo she was not impressed! But by then it was time to head into the show and enjoy another barrage from Rollins. A couple of hours later we emerged and decided we should have another drink before heading back to Glasgow. It was a good decision as a few minutes later Rollins emerged from the rear stage door to sign autographs, pose for photos and chat to the fans still remaining. So it was that we were both able to meet the man, had a brief chat and leave the Fringe satisfied and happy! If you're ever in Edinburgh in August be sure to do 2 things - book your accommodation in advance and go the the Fringe!!

The next post promises to be a little larger than this one - coming at you from the north and west of the amazing island of Ireland! Coming soon, we promise..