Edinburgh Festivals 2026
This year I saw 26 shows at the Edinburgh festivals, mostly Fringe but a couple of talks from the Book festival also. I've had years where I've done quite a lot of shows but not since the start of Covid, and never whilst I've also been working full-time. It was very full-on but absolutely fantastic and I'm going to try and do similar in future years!
I've got a few tips for future me and for you if you come to a future Fringe (if you do hit me up for a drink), and I've included short (Bluesky length) reviews for all the shows I saw. I know we're past the Fringe now but many shows go to other festivals, show on tour or in theatres (particularly London and New York), or will be back again next year so check them out!
My fringe tips
Before I get into reviews for everything I saw, here are things I learned this year that may be helpful for you or future me.
- Get a Love The Fringe (LTF) membership. It doesn't cover all shows but if you can make it work it makes it a lot cheaper. I got the £125 Silver plan which includes 18 tickets so costs £6.95 each.
- Many shows allocate Love the Fringe tickets for weekdays so prioritise non-LTF for your weekends.
- You can buy two tickets for a single show on LTF so you can share with a pal.
- Don't worry about going alone! I went to many shows alone and had a great time.
- Theatre, cabaret, music are all more interesting than stand-up. My opinion is don't bother with the stand-ups!
- You can use Voi rental bikes to get from Leith to Bristo square but you need lots of backup parking options because they can be hard to find
- Use a festival planning app like Festies to find gaps in your schedule for more shows.
- With some flexible hours it's surprisingly okay to do a month of Fringe without taking time off work. It's intense but absolutely doable!
- You'll get ill. I got ill in week three, and from what I gather that's pretty universal!
Reviews
Sorted first by star rating, then by the order I saw them. For the full order in which I saw them check out my Bluesky or Mastodon.
I have some friends with weird ideas of star ratings that think 3 stars is bad, so to clear that up here's how I think of star ratings to help:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — "My god that was fantastic I'm absolutely buzzing"
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — "I really really enjoyed that!"
- ⭐⭐⭐ — "That was fun."
- ⭐⭐ — "Tbh that wasn't great..."
- ⭐ — "My god that was dire. I hated it and would have paid the ticket price to not go"
Absolute Bus Stops of Northern Europe and Beyond — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Absolutely stunning show, this was a perfect example of how you can be incredibly funny without jokes. Plus transport nerds are cool!
Jim Judges — Absolute Bus Stops on edfringe.com
Pale Waves — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One of my favourite bands did a small-venue gig for one day and it was excellent. Pale Waves are one of the best modern indie pop-rock bands around and bloody hell this was a fantastic night.
Pale Waves — Pale Waves on edfringe.com
Stamptown — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This blew my fucking mind. I thought I wouldn't like it but instead I was laughing constantly and amazed by the talent. It's a chaotic variety circus show but much more. Closest I've gotten to a 'must see'! Friends I was with went 3 times more it was so good.
Stamptown — Stamptown on edfringe.com
...Earnest? — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wonderful 'play that goes wrong' style structured improv show, where the audience gradually replaces the cast as they're unable to perform. Very fun and respectful to the audience participating!
Say it Again, Sorry? — Earnest on edfringe.com
Down to Chance — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fantastic two-person theatre that conveys so many distinct characters and a really beautiful story and makes it seem so easy. This is my second time seeing it and remains one of my all time fave Fringe shows. Same folk as "Whatever Happened To That Guy?" further down.
Maybe You Like It — Down to Chance on edfringe.com
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours With The Transatlantic Ensemble — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One of the best gigs I have ever seen. FUCK Fleetwood Mac's music is good live and this is a very good tribute band! I was dancing so much that I fucked my knee for the next day but it was worth it.
The Transatlantic Ensemble — Fleetwood Mac's Rumours on edfringe.com
Brian Bilston: How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Delightful poetry that balances perfectly between serious & thought-provoking, and very silly & funny. Think you don't like poetry? You just haven't seen Brian yet!
Brian Bilston — Brian Bilston on edfringe.com
The Bob Ross Effect — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Omg this was delightful. A beautiful hour of creativity, Bob Ross appreciation, sharing joy with those around us, and art. This show spoke to me deeper than any other and I love it so much for that
Sarah-Louise Young — The Bob Ross Effect on edfringe.com
Depths of Wikipedia — ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Fantastic show about some of the fun things on our favourite site Wikipedia, and cool behind-the-scenes info I didn't know! Great show, strong recommend!
Depths of Wikipedia, Annie Rauwerda — Depths of Wikipedia on edfringe.com
Police Cops — ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Really good physical comedy theatre! The acting is excellent, and story silly but compelling. The hour flew by with many laughs!
Police Cops — Police Cops on edfringe.com
Whatever Happened To That Guy? — ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Very fun performance with wonderful acting. There were dozens of different characters all played perfectly by three actors, very impressive. The story was surprising and great fun. Same folk as "Down to Chance".
Maybe You Like It — Down to Chance on edfringe.com
Mike Wozniak: The Bench — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A masterclass in comedic storytelling. Mike tells a winding story about a small village crime, with hilarious side tracks, audience participation that actually works, and wrapped up so nicely. Clearly some in the audience were less convinced but I loved it.
Mike Wozniak — Mike Wozniak on edfringe.com
📘 The Front List: Cory Doctorow and Jimmy Wales — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The author of 'Enshittification' and the founder of Wikipedia talk about the web, it's effect on us and society, and the technocapitalist companies that seem to be at the center. Overall really interesting! I wish there were more positive takeaways though, the description promised "Can the internet ever be good again?" and the closest we got was "hopefully legislators do better".
Cory Doctorow — Jimmy Wales — The Front List: Cory Doctorow and Jimmy Wales on edbookfest.co.uk
📘 The Front List: Tom Holland — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Historian Tom Holland talks about himself and the classical roman writer Suetonius. Very enjoyable, I like how Tom communicates and I find his thoughts on the classics, history, and what they mean for us today interesting.
Tom Holland — The Front List: Tom Holland on edbookfest.co.uk
Lost in Translation (Jurassic Park) — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ruin a script with repeated translation and perform it live. It's a winning formula and it was excellent.
Lost In Translation — Lost In Translation on edfringe.com
Police Cops in Space — ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What the fuck. My god this was mad. Stupid as fuck physical comedy and innuendo, like the other Police Cops but on harder drugs.
It was incredibly funny though. Ridiculously stupid, but funny.
Police Cops — Police Cops on edfringe.com
The Ballad of Isobel Gunn — ⭐⭐⭐½
A very solid one-women musical on a budget. Great story, good songs. Enjoyable, but didn't blow me away. Unfortunately she'd lost her voice but great vocals nonetheless!
Melanie Gall — The Ballad of Isobel Gunn on edfringe.com
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare — ⭐⭐⭐½
Shakespearean actors but one of them is proper pissed. Overall good fun, didn't wow me big time but it would change a lot depending on the drunk! Definitely enjoyable though.
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare — Sh!t-faced Shakespeare on edfringe.com
David O'Doherty: At This Stage — ⭐⭐⭐½
If you've seen anything David O'Doherty before this will satisfy and not surprise. Silly songs, silly jokes, silly songs with silly jokes in. Solid, expected, enjoyable.
David O'Doherty — David O'Doherty on edfringe.com
Burning Down the Horse — ⭐⭐⭐½
Decent low-budget farsical riff on the story of the Trojan Horse. It was enjoyable, but felt like it was too far away from classical texts for the fans, whilst also requiring that knowledge. This gets rave reviews but honestly I don't see it.
Fishing4Chips — Burning Down the Horse on edfringe.com
Ted Hill: PowerPoindexter — ⭐⭐⭐½
Absolute batshit powerpoint-based comedy, that was all over the place but fun. I was designated bullied audience member but enjoyed it. Stand up isn't my thing, but this was better than most.
Ted Hill — Ted Hill on edfringe.com
People I Consider Comedians — ⭐⭐⭐
A pretty decent late-night stand-up line-up hosted by Rose Matafeo off Taskmaster. I'm not a big stand-up fan but I enjoyed it regardless! Probably not enough to go again though.
Rose Matafeo — People I Consider Comedians on edfringe.com
A Comedian's Guide to Birdwatching — ⭐⭐½
I love the concept but sadly this was a bit of a miss. Ended up being essentially just bird facts with jokes crowbarred in. Which is fine, but nothing special. Might get better with practice, I did see this pretty early in the run and he'd just rewritten a lot of it.
Donal Vaughan — A Comedian's Guide to Birdwatching on edfringe.com
Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story — ⭐⭐
Womp womp. I wanted to enjoy this with all the hype but it kinda just sucked. There were fun bits but it was just too over the top (but not in a good way) for me to enjoy it. It didn't flow and felt like it dragged so much. It was the first night?
Awkward Productions — Diana the Untold and Untrue Story on edfringe.com
5 Mistakes That Changed History — ⭐⭐
I like the idea but it was pretty weak history communication in my opinion, with bad jokes and references rammed in clumsily. Unfortunate, as this should totally be for me but it just wasn't that good.
Mistakes That Changed History — 5 Mistakes That Changed History on edfringe.com
FLIGHT — ⭐
Oh boy I hated this. It's a darkroom audio experience which I normally enjoy but I just couldn't get over how it felt so much like a real plane and from minute 2 I was just waiting to leave. Maybe you'd enjoy this but it was not for me!