Edinburgh Festival Fringe: 10 key venues

The Scotsman


Whether you’re looking to see a show are not, these venues are at the heart of what makes the Fringe such a lively and widely admired celebration of culture

This year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe will take place across 294 venues, which will host more than 50,000 shows between them. Now in its 69th year, the Fringe commandeers pubs, clubs, restaurants, schools, tents and even toilets for the duration of August. For a comprehensive venue guide, we suggest you check out the festival website, https://tickets.edfringe.com/venues. In the meantime, here are some of the Fringe’s key venues and the essential shows taking place inside them.

Summerhall

1 Summerhall, EH9 1PL, 0131 560 1581, http://www.summerhall.co.uk/

Originally the site of a family-run brewery in the early 1700s, and until 2011 the home of the University of Edinburgh’s veterinary school, Summerhall has since been a dedicated, year-round arts hub. Hours pass quickly in Summerhall’s central courtyard, where the frantic pace of the city centre is turned down a few notches. As comfortable as the surroundings are, though, the venue’s programming promises to be “risky [and] engaging.”

What to see: Macbain, where Shakespearian pathos meets pop culture tragedy as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. http://festival16.summerhall.co.uk/event/macbain/