Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2009

07 - 31 Aug, Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival started life when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. They aimed to take advantage of the large theatre crowds and showcase their own, more alternative theatre. It got its name, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in the following year (1948) when Robert Kemp, a Scottish playwright and journalist, wrote during the second Edinburgh International Festival: 'Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before … I am afraid some of us are not going to be at home during the evenings!'.
There was no organisation initially until students of the University of Edinburgh set up a drop-in centre in 1951. Here cheap food and a beds for the night were made available to participating groups. It was 1955 before the first (not wholly successful) attempt was made to provide a central booking service.

In 1959 there came the first signs of organisation with the formation of the ‘Festival Fringe Society’. A constitution was drawn up in which the policy of not vetting or censoring shows was set out and the society produced the first guide to all Fringe shows. 19 companies attended the Fringe that year. In following years problems began to arise as the Fringe became too big for students and volunteers to deal with. Eventually in 1969 the society became a limited company, and in 1971 it employed its first administrator.

As an integral part of the world's largest arts festival, The Fringe Festival is now at the centre of the world’s arts scene, and 2009 looks like its best ever.

Book your 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival accommodation early to receive the best possible rates!

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