Irvine Welsh to stage Fringe show in former Victorian swimming pool

A squash court, a shipping container and a Victorian swim centre will be turned into venues for this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Irvine Welsh will be staging his own party night at the Old Dr Bells Baths, which will become a major Fringe music venue in Leith in August.

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, The View frontman Kyle Falconer and Creation Records founder Alan McGee will be among the big names to appear at the Old Dr Bells Baths at Great Junction Street, in Leith, while a venue made entirely out of pianos will host gigs at the nearby Pitt market.

Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson and Patrick Harvie will take part in a lunchtime chat show in a converted masonic lodge in the New Town run by The Stand comedy club, with crime writer Ian Rankin, actress Elaine C Smith and veteran football pundit Archie McPherson also in the line-up.

The mass experiment theatre show Coma, which will see audiences lie in a bunk beds and "slip into a collective dream," will take place in a completely darkened shipping container at Summerhall, while the show Arthur will be staged in the homes of willing audience members.

The Traverse Theatre programme includes a site-specific show, Spliced, about the intense pressures on Irish hurling players, which will be staged on a squash court at the Edinburgh Sports Club on Belford Place.

Other sports venues being used include Tynecastle Park, home of Heart of Midlothian Football Club and The Grange, in Stockbridge, where Scotland's cricket team play their big international matches.

Scottish street trials superstar Danny MacAskill will be staging a brand new stunts show in a big top on the Meadows as part of Underbelly's programme, which also includes the debut of Basil Brush at the Fringe, including an adults-only show.

Comedy favourites in the programme include Still Game star Sanjeev Kohli, who will be starring in a live version of his hit Radio 4 series Fags, Mags and Bags, and Eddie Izzard will perform a one-man version of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations on stage.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy said: "“This year’s festival will feature 744 shows from Edinburgh, 963 from Scotland and work from a record 63 countries, which collectively help make the Fringe the greatest celebration of arts and culture on the planet.

"From the growing threat of global warming to the personal stories of migrants making a new home in a strange land; the 50th anniversary of the moon landings to exploring sex and true crime stories, this year’s programme will challenge perceptions, stimulate conversation, entertain, make you laugh, make you cry and inspire you."