Edinburgh in August: How to Enjoy the Festivals

At half past ten on an August night, the Royal Mile looks like someone tipped a theatre into the street. A juggler balances on a unicycle outside St Giles', a cast of students in sequins presses flyers into your hand, and from somewhere below comes a bagpiper and laughter. Edinburgh in August is the biggest arts gathering on earth, several festivals at once in a city of cobbles and closes. It can be exhausting. It can also be the best week of your year. The difference is mostly planning.

Which festival is which

"The festival" is really several, running side by side through most of August.

• The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the giant: thousands of shows in hundreds of venues, from comedy and theatre to cabaret, music and children's shows. Anyone can perform, which is the point, and why the quality runs from life-changing to baffling.
• The Edinburgh International Festival, founded in 1947, is the programmed one, where the festival invites every act: orchestras, opera, dance and theatre from around the world in the city's major halls.
• The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place on the Castle Esplanade at night: massed pipes and drums, military bands and performers from many countries, with the castle lit behind them.
• The Edinburgh International Book Festival brings writers for talks and readings, and there is an art festival across the city's galleries too.

Dates differ slightly between them, so check each official site before you settle on your week. The Fringe's official site has the full programme and the box office.

Choosing shows without losing your mind

The Fringe programme is huge, and scrolling it can eat whole evenings. My rule is to book three or four things in advance and leave the rest to chance. Book ahead for the Tattoo, which sells out, for International Festival performances you really care about, and for any comedian you already know from television. Everything else, decide on the day.

The best way to choose is to ask. Ask the person next to you in the queue what they have seen. Ask the bar staff at the venue. Read the reviews pinned up outside, but trust word of mouth more. Some of my best Fringe hours have been in a room above a pub with twenty people and an act I had never heard of.

The free Fringe

A big share of shows are free to enter, with a bucket at the door for whatever you think it was worth. Several organisations run free venues, often in pubs and basements. Quality varies, but so does it at paid venues, and the low stakes make it easy to take a chance. Pay fairly on the way out. Performers often lose money coming to Edinburgh.

The venues worth knowing

Many of the big Fringe venues are clusters of rooms rather than single theatres, with their own courtyards, bars and crowds. The area around Bristo Square and George Square fills with pop-up bars and a famous upturned purple cow. The Pleasance Courtyard is a classic place to sit with a drink between shows. Assembly Rooms on George Street sits in the New Town, a different, calmer mood. You do not need to know them all. Learn three, and use them as bases.

Book a few shows, then let the city choose the rest.

Where to stay

This is the hard part. Accommodation in August is expensive and goes early, often months ahead. Staying in the Old Town puts you in the middle of it, which is wonderful until you want to sleep. Leith, Stockbridge, Bruntsfield and Marchmont are all within a walk or a short bus ride and feel like neighbourhoods rather than a festival site. Edinburgh has also introduced a visitor levy on overnight stays, so check the latest from the city council when you compare prices.

Where to escape the crowds

When the Royal Mile gets too much, and it will, go up or go to the water.

• Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano in Holyrood Park, a steep but short climb with the whole city and the Firth of Forth below. Early morning is best.
• Calton Hill is the easy alternative, with monuments and one of the finest city views anywhere at sunset.
• Dean Village and the Water of Leith feel like a different town: a quiet riverside path from the West End down to Stockbridge.
• Portobello has a long sandy beach and a promenade, a short bus ride east of the centre.
• The Royal Botanic Garden is free to enter and blissfully calm.

Eating and drinking

Restaurants fill up and some raise their game for the month. Book dinner for the nights you have shows, and eat early or late on the others. Between shows, the venue bars and street food stalls are fine, but the best meals are often a short walk out of the centre, in Leith along the Shore, or in Stockbridge.

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Good to know

• Book accommodation early, and the Tattoo as soon as tickets go on sale.
• Pack for every weather. August in Edinburgh can mean sun, wind and rain in one afternoon.
• Wear proper shoes. Cobbles, steps and steep closes are everywhere.
• Leave buffer time between shows. Venues are close on the map, not always in practice.
• Carry a little cash for free Fringe buckets and street performers.
• Check the dates for each festival every year. They do not always line up.

Edinburgh in August is not a relaxing holiday, and it is not meant to be. Go for four or five days, see more shows than you think you can, climb a hill every morning, and leave a little before you are worn out. You will be planning next year on the train home.