Fringe Gets Underway

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe officially gets under way today.

Organisers say the arts festival will be the biggest in its 67-year history.

There will be nearly 50 thousand performances of over 3000 shows across the capital - an 11percent increase on last year.

The Fringe programme includes comedy, theatre, dance, circus, cabaret, events, exhibitions, children's shows, music, musicals and opera and spoken word events.

Nearly two million tickets were sold for last year's programme of events.

Kath M Mainland, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said:

“This programme is the culmination of the creativity and hard work of thousands of people. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is many things to many people and part of the success of the Fringe is that whatever you are looking for, and in whatever capacity you are looking, you can almost certainly be satisfied by what you find.

“This year the Fringe includes 3,193 shows which is a record number of shows, but more importantly the programme offers the widest selection of international high quality arts and entertainment that you will find in any one place at any one time. A truly unique experience.

“This year is an incredibly important year for Scotland with major international cultural, sporting and political events taking place. With our eclectic range of shows and uniquely diverse range of voices the Fringe will, as always, be at the centre of things and promises to keep residents and visitors unbored.”