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Members of the Chinese Theatre Circle in traditional costume performed the Lion Dance outside the Assembly Rooms in George Street to promote their Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, August 1988.Members of the Chinese Theatre Circle in traditional costume performed the Lion Dance outside the Assembly Rooms in George Street to promote their Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, August 1988.
Members of the Chinese Theatre Circle in traditional costume performed the Lion Dance outside the Assembly Rooms in George Street to promote their Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, August 1988.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: 26 photos looking back at the Fringe in the 1980s

So many memories from August in Edinburgh in the 1980s
Kevin Quinn
By Kevin Quinn
Published 23rd Jul 2023, 11:38 GMT
Updated 23rd Jul 2023, 11:47 GMT

With this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe fast approaching, we’ve taken a look back in our archives for photos of the annual event during the 1980s.

That decade saw many TV and comedy stars who went onto become household names appear in Edinburgh, selling their shows on the streets of the city like everyone else, including comedians Rowan Atkinson, Alexi Sayle and Jo Brand, musician Jools Holland and Scottish US TV show host Craig Ferguson.

Two performers from the controversial French circus Archaos lay down their chainsaws and take a break from previewing their Edinburgh Festival Fringe act in the Royal Mile, August 1989.

25. French connection

Two performers from the controversial French circus Archaos lay down their chainsaws and take a break from previewing their Edinburgh Festival Fringe act in the Royal Mile, August 1989. Photo: Joe Steele

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Ian Hislop, editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye, was in the Capital to review the Edinburgh Festival in August 1989. Mr Hislop is pictured outside the Festival Fringe Society in the Royal Mile.

26. Private eyes

Ian Hislop, editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye, was in the Capital to review the Edinburgh Festival in August 1989. Mr Hislop is pictured outside the Festival Fringe Society in the Royal Mile. Photo: Stanley Hunter

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