The first shows for the 70th anniversary edition of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have been released. Tickets can be purchased on edfringe.com. More tickets will be released over the next four months before the full Fringe programme is announced on 7 June.
Strictly speaking some shows are already on sale, such as Tape Face and Colin Cloud at the Pleasance Grand, but a lot more tickets will be available from today.
To celebrate the start of the countdown to the 2017 Fringe, well known faces from the world of music, stage and screen have explained what the Fringe means to them in a new short film. The film includes contributions from comedians Rory Bremner, Susan Calman and Daniel Sloss, actresses Cora Bissett, Annette O’Toole, and Mary Lynn-Rajskub, and Fringe stalwarts Arthur Smith, Mark Thomas and Nicholas Parsons. Watch the film below.
Sharing their thoughts on the Fringe, Susan Calman said “for a comedian, the Fringe is like Christmas. We plan our entire year around it”, while Arthur Smith branded the Fringe “playground of the imagination”, and TV and Radio presenter Nicholas Parsons, who attended the inaugural Fringe in 1947, said “it’s a joy to be part of it, I just love it.”
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said:
“2017 promises to be one of the most exciting years in the history of the Fringe as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of this amazing festival and 70 years of Edinburgh as a world-renowned festival city. To kick off our 70th celebrations we asked some familiar faces to tell us what the Fringe means to them. It’s great to hear from a broad range of performers, writers and producers, whose experiences at the Fringe have shaped, enhanced, or inspired their careers. The Fringe continues to provide the world’s largest platform for artistic freedom, attracting artists and audiences from all over the world, who come together every year for a truly international celebration of arts and culture. We are looking forward to unveiling further plans for the Fringe’s 70th anniversary celebrations over the coming months.”
The 2017 Fringe will run from 04 – 28 August 2017.
