It’s festival time – cue road works and city gridlock - Fiona Duff

You kind of know when it’s about to be festival time in Edinburgh.

"Havana Funk", a show project by Toby Gough, featuring dancer Lia Rodriguez, in Havana, Cuba.

All over the city centre road works spring up – great holes in the ground appear, surrounded by traffic cones with red plastic fencing and hardly a workman to be seen. The capital’s busiest month of the year, and it is going to be gridlock.

Anyway, with a good pair of shoes and an anorak it ain’t going to put me off going to some shows.

Apart from anything these performers from around the globe need our support as festivals have been short on the ground recently.

So I’d plan my perfect day. It wouldn’t start too early, and then I would head to the Grassmarket to have a coffee and watch all the shenanigans of performers and leafleters joshing for space.

Then I would have found someone’s child to take up to McEwan Hall to see Dragons and Mythical Beasts because that, in their words, will be awesome.

Obviously I would then hand them straight back to their parents and have a lunch at Ting Thai Caravan because I really like the food there

It could be fairly leisurely as I’ll have a bit of time before heading to Greenside in Infirmary Street to see the incredible Mary Goggin tell her life story in Runaway Princess. I don’t have space to tell you much more, but you should probably go.

Unfortunately that clashes with both CSI Crime Scene Improv and What The Heart Wants, so they will have to be another day.

But a wander back to Bristo Square for a taste of Cuban music and dance for a tremendous feel good hour with the Havana Street Party.

I may need a mojito to cool down after that because the night may be young but I’m not.

There’s still I’m With Stupid (the very funny and lucky screenwriter JD Shapiro) at the Gilded Balloon before hotfooting to George Square for a bit of campery with Briefs Sweatshop.

I’ll have to walk home because even if I could find a taxi it will take forever. My step-counter will be in overdrive.