It Took a Brave Heart

« Return to Scotland

EDINBURGH - Sleep had finally arrived, ignoring the light drizzle on my face, chill wind and cracked cement bench, when a copper prodded me awake and told me, in that universal copper way, to “get a move on.” Had he known my weekend journey into the heart of the Edinburgh Festival, the largest arts festival in the world, perhaps he might have been more sympathetic. No, probably not.

Serves me right of course, for visiting the Festival at a moment’s notice. Hotels, hostels, B&B’s and converted school dorms are booked out months in advance for a festival that features over 2000 artists from 28 countries, putting hundreds of performances in just two weeks. This doesn’t include its famous Fringe Festival, which runs alongside the main festival and is three times the size. Over half a million people pour into Scotland’s capital, and it appeared almost all of them had prior reservations.

Arriving on an atypically sunny day, I was swallowed by a crowd that never seemed to dissipate. Fortunately I had met a group of student volunteers on the train from London who gave me free tickets to several shows, sending me in the direction of Princess Street. Rolling green fields were littered with people on blankets, striking like waves on the impressive rocky hill that supports Edinburgh Castle. Actors, or friends of actors were dishing out handbills everywhere, urging the merits of their show as opposed to the hundreds of others just like it. While nobody likes to litter, at festivals it is acceptable to toss handbills due to sheer volume, creating a colourful swirl of confetti on the streets. Bagpipes blasted from authentic Braveheart-clad buskers, complete with blue face-paint, thankfully away from the blowing street vents a la Marilyn Monroe. I walked up (everything is up or down in the old city) to High Street, in itself one big theatre. Every year, street buskers come from around the world to juggle, eat fire, or turn themselves into human kebabs. Mime, music, performance - a delicious palette of culture only slightly tainted by promotional teams dispensing free product from cigarettes to tampons.

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