August in Edinburgh is like Christmas for arts lovers. The historic and beautiful city of sandstone swells to (according to legend) nearly double its size as performers, producers and punters from all over the world descend, filling up every inch of the pavement, anything that could possibly be elbowed into being a venue – and any and all available accommodation/couches/floor space throughout the near four-week long festival of festivals.
The Edinburgh International Festival takes place from 4-28 August and, alongside it, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with (this year) a mind-boggling 3535 registered shows. The Edinburgh International Book Festival starts in the second week of August, bringing over 500 writers to the city for a series of events – just in case you’d run out of things to do.
