More clues as to what this year's festival will look like

The first of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe shows are to go on sale from midday today.

And while the first list of events includes only two newly-announced live comedy shows, an accompanying announcement has revealed more details of what this year’s festival might look like.

Assembly Festival will be running two sites and three venues from July 23 to August 29, including the Palais de Variete Spiegeltent and an outdoor stage in George Square Gardens.

Gilded Balloon is promising a  programme of live shows at its Teviot base featuring Scottish-based comedy and theatre performers to be announced on July 12. It is also working with Zoo, Traverse Theatre and Dance Base for a new outdoor venue called MultiStory, which again will announce its programme on July 12.

PBH’s Free Fringe will be staging in-person shows across 16 stages with a provisional programme announced next week.

The Laughing Horse Free Fringe Festival will return with a limited programme of shows at its Counting House Hub, The Three Sisters and Hanover Tap using a  ticketed pay-what-you-want model

Just the Tonic will soon be announcing a series of in-person shows, running from August 6 to 28, the official dates of the Fringe.

The Stand previously told Chortle: ‘We will probably have a limited number of shows at Stand 1.’

The Pleasance, Underbelly and Monkey Barrel  have not yet announced any Fringe plans, but Monkey Barrel is already running weekend gigs in its central Edinburgh location under stricter social distancing rules than are likely to be in effect during the festival.

The live comedy programme so far is  dominated by the Corn Exchange, where tickets for acts including Craig Hill, Daniel Sloss and Andrew Maxwell have  long been available. Tickets for Mark Nelson and others  will also be released soon.

As previously announced, the grand final of the 33^rd So You Think You’re Funny? new act hunt will take place at Gilded Balloon Teviot on August 26.

The two new shows are long-running improvised comedy group, the Improverts, who will beat theSpace @ Symposium Hall  all month  Meanwhile, at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall, the BBC’s former chief medical officer Colin Thomas presents Trust Me, I Was The BBC Doctor from August 23 to 28.

A Fringe spokesperson said: ‘The landscape for live events has been incredibly uncertain for the last few months. The positive news that restrictions are easing in Scotland was announced just last week, and following on from that, many operators and artists have happily been able to progress with their Fringe planning.

‘The Fringe is nothing if not creative and adaptive, and even when faced with massively reduced timescales, Fringe artists and operators are still getting ready to announce new and innovative work.

‘As we all keep working to put on the best Fringe we can, we’re excited to see more shows being announced over the next five weeks.’

Just over 170 shows will go on sale at midday across all genres, and a mixture of live and streamed performances. 

Austrian  comedian Alice Frick will be presenter her show A Frickin Crazy Year via the online Fringe player on August 26 and 27, while Rajesh and Naresh at Summerhall Online is described as a 'queer romantic comedy for the modern age’, available from August 6 to 29.

The next batch of shows will be announced, and go on sale, next week.

 Shona McCarthy (pictured), chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society which puts together the programme, said: ‘After the year we’ve all had, it brings me an indescribable amount of joy to see Fringe shows going on sale. Fringe operators and artists have been working tirelessly to make this Fringe not only possible, but as safe, accessible and engaging as it can be.

‘Things will, of course, look a little different this year. But embracing the unknown and turning it into something magical is what the Fringe does best. I’m excited to see the ways that digital platforms are being used to create exciting, accessible work, and I’m inspired by the way producers and artists have adapted to the ongoing restrictions to bring live performance back to our lives. 

‘There’s still work to do, and with the situation ever-changing, we’ll be updating the programme and ticket site weekly. I’m proud of the resilience of our Fringe community, and we’re excited to make this festival the very best it can be.’

Currently, indoor venues must operate with two-metre social distancing. The Scottish government’s plan is to ease this to one metre from July 19 and to lift all restrictions on August 9, subject to Covid infection levels and the vaccination rollout.

Although the relaxation is later than originally planned, the announcement of target dates has been welcomed by the live entertainment industry.

Published: 1 Jul 2021