ARCHIVE: The Edinburgh Festival 2002

August in Edinburgh is Festival Time. The population of the city doubles as hordes of performers and festival-goers descend on the Scottish capital. The city is consumed by it.

The festival actually comprises several festivals in one month. Of all of these the biggest by far is the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, dubbed "the biggest arts festival in the world" by the Guinness Book of Records.The 56th Edinburgh Festival Fringe (which runs from 4-26 August 2002) boasts 20,342 performances of 1491 shows in 183 venues.

As always the first week is the time to get those bargains: the Fringe office estimates that it gives away more than 50,000 free tickets to shows in its first weekend. This will most likely be on a 2 for 1 basis when buying tickets on 4 Sunday and Monday 5 August.

Of course, the Fringe is only one of Edinburgh's August festivals. There is also the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, the official festival, the Edinburgh film festival, the military tattoo, mini rockfests and circuses, offering an massive amount of choice whoever you are. Which is where we come in...

EdinburghGuide.com festivals coverage

EdinburghGuide.com has been covering the festival online each year since 1998. Throughout August we provide daily coverage of all the festivals (see the panel of the right). We have previews, reviews, news, streaming video and the best Edinburgh map on the web.

And you can also find links to all the official festival sites.