Festival 2006

Its official the Festival for 2006 has kicked off. In the past few months Edinburgh has seen a steady influx of foreign visitors. This is both good and bad. Its great that so many people want to come and enjoy our capital city, and the multicultural vibe is exciting. However, its not so great when you are trying to get to work or across town. The streets are packed with tourists who don't know where they are going, walk at a leisurely pace as they have no deadlines, randomly stop and take pointless photos (the Japanese - why would you take a photo of a scabby pigeon), and the buses are full of spanish kids with matching rucksacks!

Aside from this, Edinburgh really comes alive at this time of year. We have hundreds of performers of all different genres coming to exhibit their talents. Every available space becomes a venue which results in some shows taking place in peoples living rooms. We have famous big names and regular members of the public giving the entertainment world a go. The festival is a real eye opener, on my bus ride home I witnessed a bloodied Jesus carrying his cross through the streets, a sword swallower and a man dressed like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz.

If you are lucky you can stumble across someone famous, a few years ago I bumped into Billy Connelly on Chamber Street, and met Sir Ian McClelland outside the Assembly Rooms - both times I was reduced to a bumbling idiot and was so awestruck that I couldn't manage a simple converstation! (still i did get to meet Gandalf in the flesh).

So far I am booked to see Nonfit State Circus (free tickets) Rich Hall and La Clique reviews to follow!

You can see a full list of shows at http://www.edfringe.com/