Edinburgh Fringe Frolics

Edinburgh International festival was started in 1947, it was thought that just after ww11 morale was low and the economy could also do with a boost, so the city fathers decide to have a musical festival. The performers were to be invited, but some students came along uninvited and did some shows, the next year this was picked up by a journalist, and he commented that I see again this year we have students doing performances on the Fringe of the festival, so the birth of the Fringe it became a society in 1959. 

The other two elements of the festival month are the International Edinburgh Military Tattoo, that started on the castle esplanade in 1950, and has never cancelled a performance no matter what the weather is like, and in the 1970's a bomb went off in the castle during a performance the show went on !!! 

Not sure that would happen today. The Edinburgh International Book Festival began in 1983 and is now a key event in the August Festival season, celebrated annually in Scotland's capital city. Biennial at first, the Book Festival became a yearly celebration in 1997. This year over 800 writers will attend. 

The Auld Alliance

Our french guide Pauline with a french speaking couple from Quebec, on the 1st anniversary of S&S doing french speaking tours.

A mixed bag of Tours

Elderly mother and daughter from Kurdistan - one spoken english and translated, with two kids 4 & 6 born in USA, a wee bit of a CHALLANGE ! Learning point with two kids, you have to have two wands or a wand and a sword. Where is Harry Potter when you need some magic. Thankfully we had a pair that would share.

"Brilliantly spent time! We had only one day in Edinburgh and at first I wasn't sure how to spend time/what to do with my kids. Thank to Peter we covered a lot and the kids (6 and 4) were entertained and kept walking even after 2 hours. It's nice that we were able to learn all these fascinating facts and give the kids a good work out which helped me to send them straight to bed at the end of the day. Highly recommended."

2 Glaswegians, and yet another Californian. The young man was just finishing off a european trip of about 10 countries !

Musical Belgians - some of the members of a 68 strong Belgium orchestra doing a Scottish tour.   

I asked them to shout Freedom for a group picture - Picture No 1 is polite Belgians. picture No 2 I asked them to be wild highlanders ! I will have to stop leading people astray. They did a 3 hour tour, which ended up going over the Calton Hill. I congratulated them, really well done, and their singing at the end of the Burke and Hare song was Fab !

More Californians

We wish they would bring some Californian weather. We did a long, long tour today, a stamina test.

Spice up your life

Members from Spice Scotland came on the Graveyard tour on Friday 22 June.

"Thanks for the walk and talk tonight Peter. Even if like me you have been born and brought up in Edinburgh you can always find out more information" Joy

California dreaming

Saints and Sinners had 68 Californians from the Pembroke College's Summer International School on tour Thursday 28 June. A great bunch of students.

Friends from Minnesota USA

Some students from Minnesota USA - they are here for 3 weeks to study Scottish Literature, we went round the some haunts of Edinburgh writers, and looked at some of the influences in the old town and ended up in the atmospheric backroom of an old town pub, now that's Edinburgh culture!