- Karen Koren

Spring has sprung – or it seemed to and then it disappeared again. It’s been freezing over the last week.

Spontaneous Potter is not to be missed when it comes to the Fringe

The Easter holidays are upon us and we at the Gilded Balloon have been up to our eyes in registering shows for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

It’s so exciting to be able to programme shows that want to come to Edinburgh. In 2019 we registered 220 show; this year, after a two-year hiatus, we are registering 186 shows, being the total at the moment – there may be more.

This means that we register each show we book with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society so they can put them on sale and start selling tickets to the general public. We also sell tickets on our website.

The demand is there – certainly from the performers’ point of view. We are hoping that there is the same kind of appetite from the ticket buying public. We have shows coming from Scandinavia, America, France, Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand. There are children’s shows, drama, magic, cabaret, music, sketch comedy, podcasts, spoken word, stand-up comedy and lots, lots more.

We've already got 60 shows on sale and the next batch will be going up at the beginning of May. Already on sale are Andrew Maxwell, Jack Docherty, Spontaneous Potter, Justin Moorhouse, Just These Please, Lost Voice Guy, Elf Lyons, Maisie Adam, Jamie MacDonald, Basil Brush, Pete Firman, Kevin Quantum, Ladder to the Stars and loads more.

These do not include the 110 that are going on sale on 5 May. Be prepared and look on our website, buy tickets and make sure that this 75th anniversary Fringe is going to be the best it ever could be.

Have we learned any lessons since the last full festival in 2019? I really do hope so.

Edinburgh should have learned to cherish the Fringe and be proud of it. It’s the most unique festival and largest in the world and we who help present it are extremely happy and proud that we go some way to making it happen.

Now Edinburgh, it’s your turn to make the city beautiful again and finish all these roadworks and clean up and prepare for the greatest party in the world!