It had been a long-standing desire of mine to attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, either as a performer or as a spectator, but the opportunity never presented itself until this summer. Katharine Kavanagh of the Circus Diaries put a call out for circus practitioners who might be interested in participating in a circus critic’s residency based at the festival called Circus Voices. I applied and was one of five granted a spot in this rare opportunity.

ot in this rare opportunity. One of the most impressive aspects of the festival is its scope; it is immense. It holds the title of the largest arts festival in the world. Every August Scotland’s capital embraces performers, programmers, critics, and spectators from around the globe for an explosion of creative energy and performances. The wonderful world of the Fringe encompasses a range of performances from across the performing genres – theatre, comedy, dance, cabaret, variety, physical theatre, music, spoken word, and of course circus. Of these categories, comedy by far carries the most weight in the programmation. This notorious festival that prides itself on “defying the norm” takes place annually for roughly three weeks in the month of August for a complete citywide takeover. Last year (2017), it celebrated 70 years of existence with 53,232 performances from 3,398 shows in 300 venues. ...