Free festival

I was walking down Frederick Street the other day on my way home to write up some Fringe reviews for EdinburghGuide when I was politely accosted by a couple of performers outside Fingers Piano Bar. It was 3.10pm. I was informed that their show Hoopla Impro was about to start. The good news was that their show is free and secondly that the bar was open.  Well, perhaps my reviews can wait an hour.

There may be no such thing as a free lunch but there is still a free fringe event. OK, there may be a bucket collection at the end, but in relative terms, this is as close to free as anything gets these days!

On the tiny "stage" in the corner of the bar three characters are going to tell you about their lives and what led them to be cabaret whores.

Lack of money should be no obstacle to partaking of the cultural feeding frenzy in Edinburgh in August.

The 2009 Fringe programme includes 2098 shows with 34,265 performances in 265 performing spaces.

The Cavalcade sees performers from all the Edinburgh Festivals roll through the city in an annual procession at the beginning of August. It usually takes place on the first Sunday of the month, but in 2009 is scheduled for Sunday 9 August.

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

The free Mardi Gras, part of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, launches Edinburgh's Festival season with its customar

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is hoping to add a touch more class to its annual festival in June by moving its red carpet galas to the

Feet First is a specially commissioned event for 1 January 2009 showcasing top Scottish street performance and outdoor arts.

The Dancin' is another free Hogmanay street party, taking up where the traditional Night Afore Fiesta left off.

Never having been to see anything at the free fringe, I had no idea what to expect.

Fringe Sunday usually takes place on the second Sunday of the Fringe.

The Edinburgh World Justice Festival will run for a fortnight from Saturday the 14th June to Sunday 29th June in venues across Edinburgh.

The National Museum of Scotland is marking the start of its 3-year, £46.4

This weekend, Friday 31st, Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd, sees the return of the annual Edinburgh Mela, a family-friendly festival of Asian and world music, street theatre, fashion, food, bhangra

Now you see it. Now you don't. That's normally the case with my wages over August, but now thanks to the Laughing Horse I can see a perfectly good Fringe show for nix. And about time!

You can't miss this advertisement at the West End of Princes Street for Ricky Gervais's single show at Edinburgh Castle. Perhaps the star of tv comedy series The Office, who is reputed to earn up to £20,000 a day for turning up to work, is getting into the spirit of the free comedy fest?

Once again, Trey Guevara and Frankie McCastro return from the future, (2017 to be precise) to rouse apathetic and blinkered Festival-goers into sparking a revolution, thus saving the Fringe from total corporate sell-out.

It wasn't as big as in previous years, but heavy drizzle didn't stop people coming out in numbers for the Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade, the official start to the festival season.