{"id":98885225,"date":"2016-08-19T15:31:26","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T19:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/?p=98885225"},"modified":"2019-08-21T11:23:54","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T15:23:54","slug":"arts-spontaneity-impromptu-trip-edinburgh-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/arts-spontaneity-impromptu-trip-edinburgh-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arts & Spontaneity Go Hand-in-Hand with an Impromptu Trip to the Edinburgh Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jack Murphy started off his week looking for a place to go. The New York-based attorney had just begun a much-needed vacation, but had yet to settle on a destination. \u201cI was going to go to Puerto Rico and I decided that the weather wasn\u2019t all that great,\u201d Jack says. So instead of taking a tropical getaway, Jack ended up in Edinburgh, Scotland\u2026in the middle of the largest annual arts & culture festival in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was totally last minute,\u201d Jack admits. \u201cI heard that airfare wasn\u2019t too expensive and [Edinburgh] just seemed like the perfect place to go.\u201d And as for the famous festival? \u201cI actually only heard about it when I was looking up places to travel,\u201d he says. \u201cI heard that there was this thing going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u00a0Exactly Is the Edinburgh Festival?<\/h2>\n

To use the singular \u201cfestival\u201d in describing Edinburgh in August is kind of misleading. In 1947, the city hosted the first ever Edinburgh International Festival<\/a>, which was designed to host performances from the world\u2019s best in music and the dramatic arts. The idea was to help regrow Europe\u2019s performing arts scene after the ravages of World War II. But not just those selected by the festival\u2019s organizers showed up.<\/p>\n

As the story goes, eight uninvited theatre companies arrived in Edinburgh at the same time and put on their own alternative performances in smaller venues throughout the city \u2014 thus launching the Edinburgh Festival Fringe<\/a>, an open access performing arts festival that has gained a reputation as a hub for comedy and experimental theatre. Over the years,\u00a0even more festivals formed and joined the scene at Edinburgh in August, including those dedicated to visual arts<\/a>, blues and jazz<\/a>, and even military music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These days, most people refer to everything with the singular catch-all phrase \u201cthe Edinburgh Festival<\/a>\u201d \u2014 although the vast majority of performances are slated under the Fringe (which welcomes any and all performers willing to participate). The result is a city packed with performers and artists of every kind in every possible venue, to the point where they spill out into the streets \u2014 busking, promoting upcoming shows, or just entertaining those passing by.<\/p>\n

\"Edinburgh<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of had an idea that it would be lively and it definitely is,\u201d Jack says. \u201cThere are performances literally everywhere. It\u2019s really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack had done some planning ahead of time, picking out performances that piqued his interest and booking tickets online. \u201cEach festival has a website and it\u2019s easily searchable,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can spend a half-hour poking around and you can plan your week.\u201d But even with a preset schedule, the Edinburgh Festival is perfect for meandering around the city and discovering shows. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind place where you can walk around and pop into places,\u201d Jack explains.<\/p>\n

The first performance Jack caught, which he\u2019d purchased tickets for, was by a gypsy guitar and cello two-piece. \u201cIt was exactly the kind of hidden gem I was hoping for,\u201d he says. \u201cAfterwards, I wondered around for a bit and saw a great acoustic guitar duo from Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack admits that he initially prioritized seeing musical performances. \u201cThere\u2019s like 3,000 shows a day,\u201d he explains. \u201cI focused on music to narrow things down.\u201d But even with that preference for just music, he still wound up attending an experimental theatre show on his second day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was sort of a sound collage thing telling dual stories of Yuri Gagarin and a refugee from Africa trying to make it to Europe. It was really intriguing,\u201d Jack says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my sort of usual thing, but I needed something to do in the afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s All About Spontaneity!<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0beauty of the Edinburgh Festival is that, unlike a lot of other arts and culture festivals, planning on what to see isn\u2019t really all that important. Sure, picking shows from the programs is a good idea, but the unique joy of Edinburgh is the sheer abundance of live entertainment. Spontaneously taking in a performance (whether it\u2019s on the street or in happened-upon venue) isn\u2019t just a possibility, it\u2019s the norm.<\/p>\n

Of course, that same plethora of performances can also be intimidating. Questions like \u201cWhat if I miss something really good?\u201d and \u201cHow do I know a show won\u2019t take a turn to the amazing RIGHT after I leave to see something else?\u201d can often plague an Edinburgh attendee. The only real remedy is to let go and accept the vastness of the festival. \u201cThere\u2019s no way to see everything,\u201d Jack says. \u201cThere\u2019s so many shows. But that\u2019s sort of the fun of it \u2013 looking at all the shows that are at your fingertips and finding what you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s daunting,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut it\u2019s a good kind of daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the fact — aside from attending on of the most epic annual arts events that can be reached with\u00a0cheap plane tickets<\/a>, you\u2019re also in Edinburgh, a city rich in culture and history. It’s home to the Scottish Parliament, the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, and the Scottish National Gallery. Oh, it also has a freaking castle!<\/p>\n

\"Edinburgh<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic city in its own right,\u201d Jack says. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m seeing Edinburgh plus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you ever been to Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Festival? Maybe it was an impromptu trip? Tell us about it in the comments section below?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jack Murphy started off his week looking for a place to go. The New York-based attorney had just begun a much-needed vacation, but had yet to settle on a destination. \u201cI was going to go to Puerto Rico and I decided that the weather wasn\u2019t all that great,\u201d Jack says. So instead of taking a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":98902045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,141],"tags":[938,934,935,936,937,703],"class_list":["post-98885225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-travel-inspiration","tag-edi","tag-edinburgh","tag-edinburgh-festival-fringe","tag-edinburgh-international-festival","tag-last-minute-travel","tag-scotland"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98885225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98885225"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98885225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98902116,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98885225\/revisions\/98902116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98902045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98885225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98885225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98885225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}