04/08/2008

Edinburgh Fringe Gets Underway

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival - a long-established spin-off from the main event - is getting underway offering a full catalogue of comedy, drama and music over the coming month.

Preview performances for many of the 2,088 shows in the Edinburgh Fringe began at the end of last week.

The Fringe, which runs in 247 venues around the city, officially runs from 4th to 25th August.

Fringe director Jon Morgan said: "We are the biggest open-access cross-artform festival in the world, and every year we have such a great variety of shows from all over the world catering for all age ranges and tastes.

"There are so many great areas of this city, so many fascinating parts."

It is thought that almost 19,000 performers will take to the stage during the Fringe's three-week run.

Mr Morgan said problems with a new box office system "appear to be easing".

Last year 1.7 million tickets were sold at the Fringe.

The Fringe has proved a platform for many leading names in British theatre.

Among the highlights of the Fringe is Jeremy Meadows in 'Lies Have Been Told: An Evening With Robert Maxwell' at the Assembly Rooms.

Another anticipated show is a series of readings by actor Simon Callow from Charles Dickens.

Meanwhile the official Edinburgh International Festival itself has kicked off without any upset, with over £2m worth of tickets sold a week before it started. It runs from the 8th to the 31st August.

(DS)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

02 August 2013
Businessman Fined Over Damage To Ancient Woods
Natural England has won its case against a businessman in Cumbria who was found to have caused damage to an ancient woodland on his land. Philip Day was order to pay a fine of £450,000 and court fees of £475,000 in connection with the felling of trees and the excavation of land in order to build an access track in Gelt Woods.
23 August 2010
Vine One-liner Fringe's Funniest
Comedian Tim Vine has won the prize for the funniest joke of this year's Edinburgh Fringe. The king of the one-liner's was presented with the prize by digital TV channel Dave. His winning gag was: "I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again.
10 September 2008
Ryanair Postpones Opening Of Edinburgh Base
Low-fares airline Ryanair has been forced to postpone the opening of its new Edinburgh base for six weeks, due to strike action at airplane manufacturer Boeing. Ryanair said that the strike had resulted in Boeing being unable to deliver two 737 planes which the airline had purchased to operate on its new Edinburgh routes.
20 February 2014
Knife Found In Hairdresser Murder Investigation
Police investigating a fatal stabbing at a Gloucester hairdressers have recovered a knife, which they believe was the murder weapon. Hollie Gazzard (20) died after being attacked at Fringe Benefits in Southgate Street at around 18:00 on Tuesday.
19 February 2014
Woman Dies In Hairdresser Knife Attack
A 20-year-old woman has died following a knife attack at Gloucester hair salon. Police responded to reports of a woman being attacked at Fringe Benefits on Southgate Street at around 18:00 on Tuesday evening. The woman died a short time later at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.