Recently, My husband and I had the pleasure of attending The Edinburgh Festival, an international party where the distinctive sounds of bagpipes jauntily unfurl in the air, reminding us at all times that we are in Scotland. During the last three weeks of August (and until Sept 4, 1999), this historic city is joyously bursting with all forms of theater, music, dance, poetry, comedy and tragedy played out in the beautiful traditional red and gold theaters with names like the Royal Lyceum, King's Theatre, Usher Hall, The Queen's Theatre, and The Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Theatrical troupes from Poland (Stary Theatre, Poland's National theater) and Holland ( the RO Theatre Company), new plays by Spain's Lluisa Cunille (The Meeting), and Scotland's David Greig (The Speculator), each commissioned in a partnership between Barcelona and Edinburgh, and performed by the Traverse Theatre Company, are all part of an intercontinental mix that gives the Festival great panache.
There are also concerts, chorales, ballets and operas, and the thrilling Military Tattoo, a show that takes place every night (from 9 PM to 10:30 PM) of the Festival. Held on a carpark (parking lot) in front of Edinburgh Castle, it takes six weeks to erect the stands and the lights for the thousands who attend, dressed in woolens and windbreakers to protect against the cool fall-like weather. This year, its 50th, The Massed Pipes and Drums, the colorful Barbados Defence (that is how they spell it) Force Band accompanied by the stilt-walking "Jumbies," The Tattoo Scottish Dancers, The Golden Eagles of Southeast Missouri State University, The Tattoo Ceilidh Dancers, the Massed Cavalry Band and Tattoo Choir, filled the football-sized field with music and drama.
The Festival, which began in 1949, soon after World War II, is only one of four that takes over the minds and hearts of the residents, and those who flock there from all over the world. If the Festival, at times, seems a bit esoteric, The Fringe Festival contributes a great deal of fun. It inhabits the broad cobblestone streets of the Royal Mile in the old city, which, for this occasion, are blocked off from motor traffic, providing some type of entertainment from early in the morning to midnight, in every nook and cranny of this charming town. One can sit at an outdoor cafe and enjoy watching the Buskers offering their particular talents, ranging from a violinist to a mime to a man selling the world's tiniest kite. Of course, there any number of costumed actors handing out flyers to invite you to their various events. At 11:30 AM, we saw an excellent version of Sondheim's Assassins put on by a young troupe from Cambridge University, produced by Midatlantic Productions.
There is also a major Film Festival. Although we did not see him in person, Sean Connery, publicizing his new flick, made the cover of the newspaper. And there is also a Book Festival, with famed authors coming from far and wide to talk about their works.
With this plethora of choices, you soon learn that you can't see everything; in fact, choosing from the many schedules is an activity in itself and well worth the effort. (For Reviewers: There's a vast new press office created in THE HUB, a Festival building toward the top of the Royal Mile on the way to Edinburgh Castle.)
Hotels and B& B's of every type abound. We stayed in the Carlton Highland Hotel, on North Bridge, convenient to everything. If you are considering this interesting journey, you must plan ahead, for everything fills up quickly. Bring your hiking shoes. Edinburgh is built on volcanic rock. The streets are a series of hills and mountains, presenting a challenge at every corner.
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