Probably one of the best experiences for NYE that I've ever experienced. Our tour guide secured…read morewristbands for our group. We are allowed to bring our own alcohol as long as it is not in glass. So we raided a supermarket and got plastic bottles, cans and the like. We hung out on Princes Street by a statue all night with a perfect view of the castle. It was busy and I heard there were about 80,000 people in attendance. There was crowd control and plenty of porta-potties available. There are street food vendors up and down the street. You can buy more alcohol if you choose. As long as you have a wristband, you're golden. They stop letting people in after 11 pm. There are live bands at different stages throughout the area along with a live DJ on the speakers. There is a carnival area set up with ferris wheel and rides. They had fireworks going off every hour, on the hour, starting at 8 or 9 pm. It was so cool. My new friends and I stood around chatting, eating and drinking until midnight. The midnight fireworks were shot off from Edinburgh Castle and they were spectacular. There are free night buses to bus you back to your hotel after midnight. We made a mad scramble to the nearest bus station and went back. One of my tour-mates got lost, fell asleep on the bus and didn't make it home until 4 am. She said it was still worth it though. If you ever get to go to Edinburgh for New Years, Hogmanay Street Party is the place to be.

My first time abroad and this was the event I chose. As a previous reviewer wrote, sure there were…read moreplenty of ques, but the wait wasn't that long. Don't go if you don't like crowds and getting really friendly with strangers. In an environment like this with so many people all vying for the best spot to see the fireworks, expect to be snuggled up with 80000+ of your favorite strangers. :) I stayed in a hotel right on Princes Street and was fortunate enough to have tickets supplied to me through the hotel. I can't imagine why you'd need to go outside the party zone after 11pm. (There is no re-entry after 11pm - but there is up until then with a ticket/wrist band.) Amazing fireworks. Several stages with bands playing alone the side streets. Quite a few food and beer trucks scattered along the street. I really enjoyed this event this year and would definitely go back again, hype or not.

This year I was able to visit Edinburgh during the fringe festival. The city's atmosphere is…read morefantastic, full of music and performers and of course drinks. Throughout the city center, Assembly set up outdoor beer gardens complete with food trucks and performance spaces. Two large bars occupy opposite corners of the square with many specialty drink stations along the way. This year Edinburgh Gin was a big sponsor of the festival so many fancy gin drinks were available (I love gin so this worked in my favor heavily). Food trucks line the outer perimeter with huge variety in cuisines (tacos, greek, pad thai). During the day, families can picnic on the "grass" with their kids rolling about. I even saw a few magician shows offered to appease your children while you continue to day drink. Once stumbling upon George Square, I made sure to return. They are open much later than many of the bars and offer a great relaxed space to end your night rather peacefully. If you're lucky, you are able to grab seating under one of the many heat lamps set up for the cold, Scottish, summer nights. If not, huddle up for warmth and get to drinking. Beers, wine and cocktails cost anywhere from 3-5 pounds.

This is one of my favourite gardens to hang out in during festival time, which is probably…read moresurprising given it has a decent sized kiddies play area which would usually drive me potty. Here though it's outweighed by the strength of the food offering, both the line of food vans outside the entrance lining the cobblestones and also inside the enclosure. A chicken pad thai from Pad BKK this year would set you back £6 and was a great pick-me-up (or maybe that was the effect of the chillies). The next day my mate enjoyed his Well Hung And Tender burger (as well as the name) whilst I grabbed a tasty veggie dumplings with sweet chilli sauce snack from the Wings vs Dumplings van nextdoor, which was making a new appearance for this year. There's enought variety to cover any fussy eater friends I would think. Another plus point is the toilets. Portaloos yes, but kept among the cleanest at the festival so well done them. The gardens also have 2 spacious bars, one at either end, as well as other counters serving coffee and cake type snacks - so the whole place lends itself nicely to all day chilling. The patio heaters scattered around are good to cosy up to when it gets a bit chilly, though there isn't much cover from the inevitable rain - but obviously you wouldn't leave the house without a cagoule and a brolly in Edinburgh now would you?! Best enjoyed with friends in the early evening when all the lovely coloured fairy lights around the edge turn on :)

Free shows. No, really. Free. Shows. No buckets at the door, free!! It's a lottery to get a…read moreticket and you're not even guaranteed entry if you do get a ticket but hey, it's the Fringe - take a shot and you may get lucky! This afternoon we were in the audience for a recorded radio show about what's 'Trending' in the social media world. We had a panel of 3 comedians from Fringe shows discussing the pros and the cons of the current trend of Pranking Strangers and filming it for youtube. So really interesting discussions from the panel and studio audience and a great introduction to some comedians I wasn't aware of until now. In addition to free (really free!) shows, the BBC have created their own little oasis within the Fringe. You can get food, drink, watch BBC programmes on a giant tv with headphones, use clean toilets and play some pingpong. It may be too late to get tickets (available on the BBC website) but if a show is not sold out, it's possible to get in by turning up about an hour early. There's a notice board with the daily events - so give it a chance - or just head along to chill out for a few minutes, or hours.......

Decent Fringe venue and being run by the BBC then it is pretty well organised…read more You can log onto the BBC website and get free tickets. Just register for the shows you fancy and if there is space, you'll get a confirmation email. Turn up early as more emails are issued than they have capacity for as there are always no shows and they want bums on seats. Venue inside is spacious enough - lighting and sound is great and no obstruction views for what I could see. Even queuing is civilised as you get in based on your ticket number e.g.. 1-10, 11-30, etc. Even getting there early is ok - fake grass, bar serving the usual options and prices not to horrific (£4.50 for G&T - Hendricks). Good range of acts on from tasters of well known comedians and acts to kids stuff. Worth checking out.

WHAT. IS. THIS. MAGIC. ABSURDITY…read more Edinburgh Festival Fringe is everything I have ever wanted to witness in my life and many more things I never have ever pictured in my head. My bus ticket up to Edinburgh was booked long before I even knew "The Fringe' existed. So when my friend told me to look it up and the website had a one time pop-up notified me of what this was I FREAKED out. A festival where anyone and everyone gets to perform? A festival built on the idea of existing on the fringe? A festival that fills over 500 venues (and bars, coffee shops, eateries, or wherever else space can be had) throughout a city with thousands of shows throughout the end of every summer? SO MUCH YES. I attended the 70th anniversary of Fringe for a week and a half this past August. This first review of it, because I damn well expect to be heading back for more, leaves me in a state of writers block. This festival bursts with so much creativity and oddity that it often left me speechless - or laughing, or crying, or questioning life, or just really damn confused. It left me all the things, and with the amount going on it surely throws every attendee on a completely different ride. Here is a fun one - at one point I saw a group of people placed another layer of posters over the pillars of show advertisements, straight up putting a bunch of theirs to cover the other shows. At the time I was talking to a performer, who told me to go touch the pillar. These pillars are so covered in layers of flyers that they are a giant cushion - like you can run into the pillar and it cushions you! Seriously, try it. It is kind of fun. The last day of the event we walked through as the flyers were getting torn down and you could see how the layers had piled two feet wide. Crazy! And seriously, I have NEVER seen so many flyers in my life. SO much paper. You are walking down the street getting handed flyers every 0.5 seconds and then also getting dragged into "world record group banana eating" - everything happening at once. Yes, I ate a banana in unison with 30 strangers. It was awesome. A Russian circus with ping pongs balls thrown across the auditorium, a recently graduate troupe of folks supporting their friends play, the most awkward comedians, free chocolate passed out to audiences, one man stand-up shows, Australian mock yoga retreats that dress the crowd in odd costumes. There are acts that are absolutely terrible, and acts that are absolutely amazing. Fringe is amazing because it is full of options. You want to spend zero dollars and simply embrace the "Free Fringe"? Do it! You want to go to the fancy shows? Do that! You can play every show, or simply walk down the street to find the next thing that catches your eye. And finally one of my favorite aspects of this whole thing is how many of the performers are out on the street promoting their own shows. Fringe does not seem to divide between a backstage, the whole city becomes the theater. Many shows are in small room, makeshift locations where you might be one of the few there to witness. Such a wacky, weird, wonderful thing Fringe is.

Keep an eye out for all sorts of shows by independent performers: comedy, magic, fire, etc.. The…read moreEdinburgh Festival Fringe is a joyous annual event that happens every August. Short street performances are spread throughout the city, particularly centering around the Royal Mile. We were unlucky with the weather in that it was pouring rain the day we visited. And so it was difficult to find shows as well as for the entertainers who had to stall until a large enough crowd had gathered. For the ones that we did stop to watch, they were quite enjoyable.

Excellent open air show. The event is hosted at the Edinburgh Castle Front Parking Lot. The event…read moreis not happening all the time. It is seasonal for the show time. We were here for the right time for the show time during our visit to Edinburgh. The show start on time. You need minimum 15 minutes before the show to be seat down due to narrow aisle to your seat. So go to toilet first due to the show is 90 minutes. The show is combine of military of multi countries and the local band with massed pipe, drum, and more. The show also has local dance team. The show is spectacular. Definitely is massive and large formation.

This was my first time and it did not disappoint. The beautiful music made me actually cry. It was…read moreAMAZING! My favorite was the Top Secret Drum Corp. SUPERB!

Part jumble sale, part celebration of local street food, part musical festival. - The eclectic…read morenature of the Meadows Festival is exactly why I love it. You could wander and soak it all in for an hour or two. Many stalls are from local businesses, some from local charities and others turning out their pre-loved goods or clothes. Some stalls even have 20p and 50p tables. It is amazing to see what's on offer, and certainly makes for some fun hunting for treasure. There's a great energy and a family friendly atmosphere present, and there really is something for everyone. It's also over the whole weekend, so if you can't make the Saturday, you can pop down on Sunday instead. If you think the Meadows comes to life when the sun is shining, then the Meadows Fest is a whole other story. - One that I hope I can relive again and again.

The world-famous Spiegel Tent only exists in Edinburgh during the Fringe, and it's hard to describe…read moreexactly what it is. It occupies the George Square Gardens in the centre of the uni campus, so it immediately has lovely surrounding with all the greenery. The first and most obvious of its functions is as a beer garden. Although with it being the festival you do pay stupid amounts for a pint out of a plastic cup, it's worth it here as the atmosphere is always so good. Thats because there's always something going on in the various sideshows and mini theatres dotted around the edge of the square - think Moulin Rouge-esque circus type stalls and shows with all sorts of weird and wonderful things, a little auditorium with twice-daily shows, more portaloos than is really necessary and a huge outdoor pub in the middle of it. Surprisingly, this is a bit of a celebrity magnet. For some reason, I've seen Kevin Spacey here every single time I've come here for a pint and friends have said they've seen various other famous people. It's definitely both weird and wonderful in equal measure, but you can't come to the Fringe and not go to the Spiegeltent.

Oh my God it's Kevin Spacey! Fiona's right! Kevin freakin Spacey. Not just some lame, half-arsed…read moreBritish comedian. Kevin 'Kaizer Soze' Spacey, the dean of Hollywood. However..... if you're not interested in seeing Kevin Spacey you should pay a visit to the Spiegel Garden anyway. It's a fantastic drinking venue, especially after night fall. And it stays open till some ludicrous hour in the morning too. Being the festival, expect to pay festival prices (£3.80 for a pint of Guinness?!) but it's worth it for the atmosphere - it's absolutely electric. During the afternoon they have a few acts on, a few bands that no one listens to and the like but it's night time when it's happening. This place is what the festival is all about. They also have a interesting cabaret type shows on late on, worth a look. Oh and Kevin Spacey drinks there.

Weird and wonderful and I'm so glad I got to experience this. Make sure you buy your tickets in…read moreadvance and come prepared for a possibly chilly/windy night in the darkness with few places to sit and only a few options for food and drink that will be very busy. There is a rough schedule but there are things going on in multiple places at once and you will end up missing some things, not being able to see some things and that's OK! It's basically a volunteer run event so don't expect a clean and set experience - go in with your perspective open and enjoy! The ground is very uneven and it is very dark so be very careful walking around.

Beltane is genuinely one of the highlights of my year. Not only is it utterly magical, it makes me…read morefeel like the rest of the year is magical too. It's the perfect opportunity to shed the last vestiges of my lingering winter blues before the first true rays of summer. All while on top of a Scottish hill positively wreathed in flame. The dozens upon dozens of folk who volunteer for this event put so much work into everything from the costumes, to the drums, to the performances themselves: It's completely self evident that it's a labour of love. I think that's ultimately what makes Beltane so spectacular. Not just for the retelling of some ancient rite, but for the opportunity to keep that ritual alive and dancing from one year to the next. Often half naked, buck-wild, and hovering a handful of degrees above freezing. If you ever have the opportunity to see the May Queen and the Green Man (along with the Whites, the Reds, the Processional Drummers...), dress up warm, grab a few of your closest friends, and hike up Calton Hill on the last evening of April. If you have even a trace of wonder in your heart, you'll not be disappointed.