A fire juggler giving a sign that he will start his show soon. ©Libor Pospisil.
You could come across jugglers or artists on the cobblestone streets of any European city.
What makes Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, stand out is the sheer number of performers who gather there for the largest arts festival in the world, called the Fringe—a somewhat mysterious name until you learn about the origins of the festival.
The Fringe takes place every August and attracts thousands of actors, musicians, magicians, comedians, and other entertainers, some of whom are experienced, while others use the festival as their first public performance.
Royal Mile—the main street running through the heart of Edinburgh—and St Giles’ Cathedral. Several performances of the Fringe festival take place in front of the cathedral. ©Libor Pospisil.
By rubbing the toe of David Hume, the famous Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian, I was following an Edinburgh tradition, which claims that the toe can bring you luck and wisdom. Given that David Hume was an avowed empiricist, it is curious that his statue became the object of a superstition. ©Libor Pospisil.
When I arrived in Edinburgh in August 2017, I had never heard of the Fringe before. I came to the city to perform MY routine, which involved touring historical sites and taking pictures of visually unique panoramas, with dark stone buildings and rolling hills.
As I was walking down the Royal Mile, the main street running through the heart of Edinburgh, I noticed, however, that the crowds were too big to consist solely of admirers of David Hume, the famous Scottish empiricist philosopher, whose statue stands there in a prominent place.
Sure enough—in a moment, I saw a fire juggler, then amateur drummers, and other artists lining the street, most of whom entertained respectably large attention-paying audiences, who did not mind the grey sky, cool air, and occasional showers. That is how I stumbled upon ‘the Fringe.’
The fire juggler in action. ©Libor Pospisil.
What I saw on the Royal Mile represented just a tiny portion of the festival’s program—other performances took place in theaters and various venues around the city.
Not all Fringe shows are comedic, however. Shortly before I wrote this, I read an opinion piece in the Financial Times with a byline saying that the author will give a talk at the Fringe festival on the topic of mafia and drug cartels.
Music performers on the Royal Mile. ©Libor Pospisil.
So why the name “the Fringe”? It all started in 1947 as an opposition to another festival, the Edinburgh International Festival of performing arts, which applied strict criteria to select artistic companies whose performances would be listed in the program. The artists that were not accepted, however, decided to perform anyways—on the fringes of the official, exclusive festival. The Fringe was thus born and over the years has become the large, world-famous event that it is today (3,398 shows in 2017).
The only criterion for participating in the Fringe festival is that there is no criterion—literally anyone can come to show their talent and skills to the Edinburgh audience.
If you are thinking about visiting Edinburgh, I do recommend coming in August and seeing the city at its liveliest. This will ensure you will not regret that you are not lying on a Mediterranean beach (one of the few exceptions).
Royal Mile. ©Libor Pospisil.
Further details about the trip
- In 2018, the Fringe festival takes place between August 3-27.
- For the program and tickets, use the festival’s webpage edfringe.com.