Few cities undergo such a transformation as Scotland's capital city in the month of August.

The normally easy-going, historic city suddenly jolts to life as thousands of actors, artists,

Fingers crossed the weather man will provide a sunny day to accompany the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival's

The free Mardi Gras launches Edinburgh's Festival season with its customary brio. The multiple stages and marching bands bring a splash of colour and the sounds of jazz to the streets.

The Edinburgh Jazz Festival is to receive £49,370 from the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund for an annual Scottish Jazz Expo.

Annual festival which runs the gamut of jazz persuasions from more traditional Dixie and ragtime bands to up-and-coming stars, from big band concerts to pub jams.

The audience came expecting to enjoy themselves and were not disappointed. The show, comprising archive Lyttelton, traditional jazz, music from the current Cornucopia album and new material from Cornucopia 2 (due for release at the end of the August), was varied, slick, vibrant and fun.

As always, Scotland's King of Swing, Craig McMurdo, delivered a fantastic evening of entertainment. The atmosphere was electric as the audience anticipated what

The sun was shining down on the 29th Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival as speeches by Michael Hart (Festival Director) and Bruce Fallon (Chairman EJBF) opened proceedings on Saturday.

Everyone's moaning about what a miserable Summer we've had here so far. At least, today the Jazz On A Summer's Day event lived up to its billing. Well, almost.

The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Fest was striking a more mainstream note today at "Mardi Gras," the free jazz event down in the Grassmarket.

The streets are filling with more people, the Fringe banners going up, and gangs of men can be seen throughout the city hauling scaffolding and equipment off big trucks. Even the seagulls, whose cries form part of the soundtrack of this city, seem more numerous, no doubt drawn by the wealth of easy tourist pickings.