A Day at the Edinburgh Fringe

Once again I have set myself the challenge of stepping outside my comfort zone this year and attempt to try new things - even if the thought of the new things makes me feel anxious. One such anxiety-inducing thing had been the thought of attending the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is one of the biggest arts and media festivals in the world and as such, people from all over travel to Edinburgh to watch the shows and performances that take place at this time. A busy, crowded place that's a little further out from home is something that makes me really nervous so of course I had to go when my friends suggested it!😄 Here's how it all went:

I got the train into Edinburgh with two of my friends in the morning. Already the day was off to a slightly nerve-wracking start as the whole train was very packed and there was no where to sit so we had to stand for the whole journey. This actually didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it was going to be and overall the journey passed fairly quickly. When we arrived, we stopped into Harvey Nichols for a drink to kickstart our day and to celebrate the fact that we actually went out - so many of the things we've planned to do in the past never really came to fruition so this was exciting for us😄 We then had a little walk around looking for a place to eat lunch. We found a little outdoor place that sold freshly made pizzas which was the perfect thing for easily eating outside. 

Once fed, we were able to properly start our Fringe experience. We walked through different streets in Edinburgh and stopped by different street performers. This was really fun to experience because there was a lot of different things going on and you could go and watch a bunch of different types of performers. There were singers, dancers, magicians, acrobats, daredevil acts, circus acts and more. We stayed for a circus performer who was really funny and whose act was pretty cool too. After watching different acts, we headed to George Square Gardens for some more food and drinks. We had some really delicious doughnut balls covered in cinnamon sugar and chocolate.

Afterwards, we headed to our first actual booked show which was Spontaneous Potter at the Gilded Balloon Teviot. It was a completely improvised Harry Potter comedy play which had been based around an audience suggestion. Our audience voted for 'Harry Potter and the Trip to Ann Summers' which was of course hilarious and involved a love story between Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. It featured a live musical accompaniment which I also found so impressive. The whole show was just so random and I was in absolute stitches for pretty much the whole show. The cast were so funny and talented and I'd definitely want to go again in the future to see what they'll come up with again.

Afterwards, we went into another place near Portsburgh (I can't remember the name of the actual building we went into) and had a little rest before continuing on. We then went for a walk and stopped by the meadows.

By this point it was starting to get darker outside so to end off the day we went to find a little pub to sit in and get a drink before heading home. We found a pub playing live music which was the best place to go because the ambience was brilliant and we could sing along to all the tunes. We ended up staying longer than planned and didn't actually leave Edinburgh till about 1.30am! 

So it was safe to say my first Edinburgh Fringe experience was a success and I'd love to go again next year!

Bye for now, xo