Sunshade

Yesterday it was a brolly but today the sun was shining on the Book Festival.  A minor literaray quiz. As you can see, sponsored by the Guardian.

Book Festival

Alexander McCall-Smith signing copies after a childrens presentation at the Book Festival.

Sign of the Times

The "Official Festival" starts tomorrow as does the Book Festival in its usual home in Charlotte Square.

Al Fresco - No Takers

The rain abateth not. This is the relatively new underground extension to the Scottish National Gallery. Restaurant, cafe , shop and new galleries for temporary exhibits.

Brolly Good

Back to Festival weather. The more brollies the better. A year ago the blog featured Keli Clarks "tent" in the sunshine by St Giles.  This time it's in the rain by the National Gallery. Hopefully it will drive some custom to the numerous Fringe shows.  This year Fringe boasts:258 Venues; 21,192 performers; 2542 events and 41,689 performances.

Dust

This is a play running at the New Town Theatre (ie the Masonic Halls in George Street).  Worth a look if you would like some drama. If you are looking for a laugh then go elsewhere. Details on their site
http://edinburghguide.com/venue/newtowntheatre

The Queen

More particularly images of the Queen. This is a small exhibition at the National Gallery both artwork and photography. It looks at images progressively through her reign and comments on the changing perception of the Monarchy. It is also interesting just looking at an individual ageing. Worth a look.

Wet Festival

The rain continues but so does the Festival. Transparent plastic ponchos are all the rage as worn in the first picture by the Korean Drum company in transit through the Gardens. The street performers still work the crowd outside the National Gallery. Having bumped into the Koreans I decided to catch their show at the Assembly Hall.  Serendipity is the only sensible way to choose shows. When I arrived in Edinburgh the Fringe programme was only about the size of a weekly magazine and you could reasonably take it in. Now it is about the size of the Edinburgh phonebook and is quite beyond me. It was a fascinating show, a good way to spend an hour.

D-rain

After several weeks of "summer" the Festival arrives as does the rain.

Piper

Edinburgh always has a number of busking pipers. This High Street operation is very slick.  The pipers work in shifts and keep their pitch.  They are good pipers and much in demand for photos.  There was quite a que here. The Fringe opens tomorrow and it will get to be really busy.  A news item this evening said there were 432 comedians on at some time or other in the next three weks.

Tour Bus

One of the open top tour buses in the Lawnmarket.  Even on a fine day this seems about the average compliment of tourists.  Not that I wish to deny tourists their ride but there are far too many of the things disrupting traffic and they frequently cause chaos outside Waverley Station as there are often too many of them for the available space.

Street Trading

During the summer, and we have had some recently, street traders flourish, especially in the High Street.  This is long time trader Bill Green restocking on his pitch opposite St Gi;les.

Dock's Gormley

Tony No. 6 on his plinth in the Western Harbour at Ocean Terminal complete with obligatory seagull on his head. Not as interesting as his "brothers" due to his remote, by comparison, location.

The Great Michael

Or rather the Scul?tor George Wyllie's take on the vessel.  Sticking with Newhaven this is in the Peacock Inn.  It has now reopened after the fire.  Info on the ship here http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scotlandshistory/renaissancereformation/greatmichael/index.asp and the artist here if you are on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ForTheBurds