Fringe festival kicks off in the capital

By Christine Lavelle

THE world’s largest arts festival got underway today, starting a three-week run of music, comedy, dance and theatre in the Capital.

The Edinburgh Fringe will see 2,453 shows played out at 250 venues across the city, building on last year’s 1.8 million tickets sales with an additional 300 shows to take place in 2010.

This will be the 64^th time the city has hosted the Fringe, and what seems to set it apart from other festivals is its open access, bringing together big-name acts with relative unknowns.

Established stars like Jimmy Carr and Al Murray will share programme space with new and amateur performers.

Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Fringe, said: “I think the thing about the Fringe is that it is an entirely open access arts festival.