For my seventh time and my hubby’s fifth time, we arrive tomorrow in Edinburgh for the 2026 Fringe and the 2026 International Arts Festivals. Beginning in 1947 with 8 productions performed uninvited on the ‘fringe’ of the first Edinburgh International Festival, today’s annual, 3.5 week Edinburgh Fringe is the world’s largest performing arts festival with this year 307 venues, 4, 429 productions, and over 56,000 individual performances, featuring between 10,000 and 15,000 performers from many genres and from 74 countries.
The shows break down by genre as follows:
– Stand-Up Comedy: 1,756 different offerings
– Theatre: 1,143
– Music: 433
– Events: 245
– Cabaret & Variety: 203
– Musicals & Operas: 186
– Spoken Word: 160
– Children’s Shows: 136
– Dance, Physical Theatre & Circus: 127
– Exhibitions: 40
As anyone who knows us, we of course will concentrate on theatre, musicals, and opera. So far, we have acquired tickets to 39 performances, ranging from one-hour to six hours in length each.
In addition, we are attending this year the world-famous Military Tattoo, featuring 800+ international military musicians, pipers, drummers, and cultural dancers, with 8,800 attendees each night for 3.5 weeks (and twice on Friday and Saturday).
I will be writing mini reviews of all the shows we see but may not post until we return to Colombia in mid-October.
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