Edinburgh Love’s 2009 Guide To Edinburgh Fringe, Reviews and Recommendations

I Love Edinburgh’s guide to all things festival for summer 2009 !!

All the websites that you will need and they all open in a new window.

The Fringe      International Festival        Five Pound Fringe        Assembly Festival 

The Pleasance (comedy)    The Edge Festival (music)    Jazz Festival

Book Festival      Underbelly        Fringe By The Sea (North Berwick)  

Military Tattoo        Free Festival (Laughing Horse)     The Stand

Spiritual Festival        Edinburgh Mela       Art Festival     Comedy Festival

All my festival photos will be added  here - Alison’ Festival 2009 Photos which will be taken over the next few weeks, but for some professional shots of the Edinburgh Festivals, then head to Keith  at  Fourth Eye Photography / his blog or follow him on twitter.  This guy is the real deal !

I could do a whole guide on what to expect from the festival, things to do, how get to get information but there are so may websites out there already.  My pick of the bunch has to be http://www.fringeguru.com/  who has interesting articles on things like how to get fringe tickets  and the handy guide on how to plan a day.  I will of course be recommending shows as I go to them, but the Fringe Guru has a great guide on how to choose a show.   Big thanks to Fringe Guru from I Love Edinburgh !!

I am an Edinburgh festival lover and has seen hundreds of shows over the years (mainly comedy and dance).   I have bought tickets for the following shows.    All are linked and will take you to the show description.

Reviews will be added to this page as soon as I see them.

Oor Tours  – Musical Tour of Edinburgh by Graeme Pearson.  Did the same tour in May – REVIEW  but it meets outside the blue police box at the Tron during the festival as the phone boxes are too busy.

Jason Byrne  Consistently funny, new material every year, includes a lot of swearing and don’t sit near the front !         REVIEW ADDED

Tom Tom Crew  Come highly recommended from a friend – can’t wait to see them.  REVIEW ADDED

Chris Cox  Have seen him at the festival in 2007 and am going back, so he’s obviously good !  REVIEW ADDED

Kevin Bridges   This guy is my MUST SEE of the fringe, he is a very funny Glaswegian comedian.  Have seen him 4 times and has never disappointed.  REVIEW ADDED 5th AUG

Micky Flanagan  Have seen him in previous years, always funny.    – Worth a look, review to follow

Richard Simms  Taking a gamble on this one, but should be fun since it’s an interactive show with breakfast included !!    REVIEW ADDED

Pythonesque  Will be a first for me   -     Have seen, very good, review to follow

Etch a Sketch  Another first – Have seen, review to follow, ok, but Superclump were far far better

Paul Zerdin   Have seen this ventriloquist on TV and was very impressed    REVIEW ADDED

Sarah Millican  very funny woman, saw her in last years Comedy Gala and want to see her full show this year

The Hotel  – Mark Watson in this bizarre but brilliant show    REVIEW ADDED

At Home With Holly – REVIEW ADDED

Gecko Theatre’s – The Overcoat,    REVIEW ADDED

Blow Up ! Credit Crunch the Musical   – REVIEW

Superclump  – REVIEW

Life of Si – REVIEW

Edinburgh Festival Theatre’s   Comedy Gala  in aid of Waverley care, best value show.  Money goes to charity and you see 10-12 comedians tell their funniest jokes.

Will be going to many more shows, but I like to see what I fancy on each day, word of mouth etc.

If you don’t like the look of what I am going to see then try  The Times Top 50      and Scotsman Top 100 recommended shows to see.  Other good fringe sites are Fringe Guru and for pictures Edinburgh Fringe Photographer.  Also,  Fourth Eye Photography writes a good Edinburgh Festival Blog

Along with the daily papers, you can get up to the minute reviews on the Ed Fringe website from real people who tell it like it is.  Don’t forget to visit the Half Price Hut at The Mound from 11th August for daily deals on shows and you’ve guessed – half price !    . 

Of course, if you don’t have a penny to your name, there are lots of free shows to go to.  The Free Festival is a good place to start, but of course there are all the street entertainers up and down the High Street.  They do depend on the generousity of the public to make their living in the form of donations and at least you get to see the show first before you pay !! 

And finally it is the Edinburgh festival, so always make sure you have an umbrella tucked away somewhere as the heavens will open sometime – it’s guaranteed.  I would also wear comfy shoes for all the walking about the city and a bottle of water as the venues can get quite hot if it’s a semi warm day.  Some venues allow you to take drinks in from their bar.

Most importantly have a wonderful festival 2009 !!

Tags: Art Festival, Assembly Festival, Book Festival, comedy, drink, Edinbugh International Festival, Edinburgh, Edinburgh for free, Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe 2009, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Mela, Event, Five Pound Fringe, Free Festival, Fringe By The Sea, gardens, George Street, how to Fringe, local, Military Tatoo, Spiritual Festival, Stockbridge, takeaway, The Edge Festival, The Pleasance, Underbelly

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