Fringe: Survival Guide

Fringe veterans give their top tips on how to survive the month of craziness...

Christabel Anderson

Christabel is Head of Participant Services at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has extensive box office, stage management, front of house and reviewing experience. This is her 18th year at the Fringe.

- Come to Fringe Central services, come to our events and talk to our staff.
- Get to know the people in your venue. They’ll be extraordinarily diverse and the staff working there can become friends and contacts for life.
- Wear sensible shoes – it’s quite a hilly city and you do tend to do a lot of walking. I always keep quite a few pairs of sensible shoes with me.

James Seabright

James is an experienced producer who has taken Fringe shows like Potted Potter and Showstopper: The Improvised Musical on to London runs. This is his 10th year at the Fringe.

- Find out where to get fresh food as soon as you arrive, so you’re not relying on takeaway and dodgy microwave meals all month. The Fringe is a real marathon - look after yourself.
- Go and see something at the International Festival – there are many things to see at the Fringe, but it’s a good idea to get a flavour of other work.
- Do your own flyering if you’re involved in a show. The best way to get people to see it is to go out and talk to them - that’s not just about handing out a piece of paper but chatting to people in queues. Always be pushing your show and willing to engage with the full Fringe experience.

Damian Sandys

Damian is a musical director who has directed Fringe shows including Side By Side By Sondheim, Honk! and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. This is his 10th year at the Fringe.

- Take some time out from the Festival, particularly if you're up for the whole month. It is EXHAUSTING. After a while, tempers fray and tiredness rules. Take some time to step out of the Edinburgh Bubble and be a normal person for a bit.
- Visit the Mosque for the cheapest lunch and most amazing curry you'll ever taste. Piemaker and Chocolate Soup are also great places.
- Hang around the Royal Mile or venue bars and you'll be offered free tickets to shows.

Andrew Girvan

Andrew works in arts management and has been both theatre manager and box office manager for C venues, looking after sales for 170 shows. This is his 8th year at the Fringe.

- Don't leave your valuables in the dressing room. Make your stage manager/techie responsible for keeping a valuables bag in the Operations Box (at the back of the theatre) for the duration of the show. Security at Edinburgh venues is notoriously bad and theft happens more than you would think
- Make sure that your set is small enough for you to transport, store, assemble and dispose of. Tour venues will charge you through the nose for binning your set. Don't think you can just stick stuff in bins around Edinburgh either. If you are caught fly tipping, the city council will go to your venue and they will pass on the costs to you against your box office reconciliation if you do not agree to pay it.
- If you cannot explain your special offer in one sentence, don't bother! Keep your offers simple and take advantage of the half price ticket hut run by the Fringe office.

Kirstie Swain

Kirstie is a project manager currently working with National Youth Theatre who has enjoyed the festival as a theatregoer. This is her 10th year at the Fringe.

-Edinburgh is really expensive. If you run out of money, you’ll at least want to be able to phone your mum to ask her to send you some more.
-Last time I volunteered to go on stage at a comedy show in Edinburgh, I ended up with a burnt patch on my forehead and a box of giant dominoes. One way to avoid being hauled on stage is to sit at the back, and never ever sit in the front row.
-If you like a freebie, then also check out the Free Fringe Festival, so you can spend all of your money on Ribena and crisps instead.