No Small Wander

Every August, thousands of performers, comics, actors, and artists come together in Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This three-week festival features talent from around the world, bringing plays, improv, stand-up acts, and so much more—like fire dancers, acrobats, drag queens, musicians, and silks artists!

For a former theatre kid like me, it’s always been a dream to go. From what I’ve heard, attendance takes planning, as the festival can be quite chaotic. Thousands of people descend on the city; the price of hotel rooms and AirBNBs shoots up; if you’re not careful about the days you book, you’ll miss the best acts.

This feels like a paradox of choice—because the festival’s website, boast nearly 4,000 acts:

That number can be overwhelming—so many shows to wade through, trying to figure out which ones to see.

But luckily, living in London has its advantages! Many artists are currently trying their acts out in smaller venues in London. The term to know here is Fringe Previews.

Previews are really useful if you’re not sure who you want to see when you’re at the festival. These artists’ showcases do double-duty: they give an audience a chance to see a work-in-progress to a lower price ticket, and they give artists a chance to rehearse and build their acts live before heading to the festival in August.

I went on a first date to one of these shows once, at a small, 40-person black box theatre room. The house lights were kept on the entire time, which meant it really didn’t feel like a show—it felt more like a rehearsal we were sitting in on.

I’m not sure if this is standard, but the performers were very much still working on their performances. They’d stop mid-scene and say “we still need to find a transition here” and move straight into the next bit. They’d also stop and take notes to what the audience was responding to. I think that some performers already have a full presentation ready, and these shows are more for practice; but others are building the shows as they go. Still, it’s cool to see the process of how art goes from good to great!

There are a few ways you can see these shows:

Check Pleasance London

Right now, there are a ton of performances on their site with the tag “FRINGE PREVIEW”. These highlight the artists that are going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Set Up Instagram/Google Alerts for Your Fave Artists

I wish I’d done this for Demi Adejuyigbe, who was in London last week, touring his new comedy hour. You can usually see what dates on their website they have shows leading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Get to Know London’s Fringe-Friendly Venues

Smaller venues like the Soho Theatre and Camden People’s Theatre often have Fringe preview shows. Signing up to their newsletters also ensures you won’t miss a performance!

Previews are a great way to see the process behind the art, and to feel like you’re part of the building of something. It’s not that you’ll get a fully polished show, but you’ll be helping an artist who needs an audience before this massive festival, which I think is pretty cool.

Are you planning on going to go to Edinburgh Fringe Festival? What was your experience? I hope you’ll let me know in the comments—and if you have any advice for attending, please drop it below. Happy travels!