August is the month of the year where the city of Edinburgh receives an explosion of colour, arts, and talent. This year, from the 7^th to the 31^st, the streets of Edinburgh will host shows, acts, comedies, and much more, in the most important art festival of the world.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival, or The Fringe, is an arts festival that features the world’s most celebrated plays, performances, and exhibitions. The celebration begins during the first’s days of august and lasts for about three weeks. It also coincides with the Edinburg International Festival, the Art Festival, and the International Book Festival.

The story begins in 1947 with the Edinburgh International Festival, which was an invitation-only festival. During one day, eight theatre troupes who weren’t invited came in the scene, arranged performance spaces, and did their performances during the remaining days of the festival. Instead of being seen as outsiders or get sanctioned for their actions, their efforts were inspiring for other artists and groups, who started doing the same thing during the next year’s festival. That practice became so popular it gave origin to what we now know as the “fringe,” whose name comes from the venues on the margins of the original festival, where more amateur artists started to perform. Nowadays, both celebrations are still playing each year during the summer.

Because of the origins of the festival, it is still avoiding the “invitation-only” method. Yet, a Fringe Society was formed to organize the growing event. Many art groups are now registered in the Fringe Society, and they are listed in an official program that lets them sell tickets for their performances during the days of the festival. However, if any non-registered group wants to participate, they are still welcome. Almost anyone with a venue and a show can now be part of Edinburgh’s most eventful days. “The fringe” hosts an average of 3000 shows and more than 32000 performances, including the non-official ones. At the Fringe, you can find shows for almost any kind of artistic expression, from drama plays to children’s concerts, comedy, dance, opera, musicals, plays, acrobatics displays, workshops, and buskers.

The festival makes the streets of Edinburgh become a pandemonium of music, colours, and creativity. The amount of shows and performances is insane. Still, despite the improvised origin of the festival, the Society has made a great effort to offer tourists, veterans, and first-timers the most organized experience, so they don’t miss any of the best shows available. Let’s see what the Fringe has to offer in terms of organization:

A cool thing about the Fringe is that, even though there are big shows and productions, the amount of performances going on every day is so vast that you can find a lot, and we mean a lot of free plays. However, the most famous shows on the festival require the purchase of tickets. Sometimes a few days ahead. There are many options for purchasing Fringe tickets. One of the most common ones is merely heading to the central fringe office on the Royal Mile (which also offers some fantastic Fringe merch) people can but tickets and get information about all fringe shows.

Another way to purchase tickets is via the internet. The Fringe Society has a website and an App that lets you book and create a schedule for the shows you want to assist. The app is getting an actualization before the festival begins, so all of the information will be there. For free shows you can get to the venue and watch the performance, however, it is good to pay a bit for the artists’ talent, but it is not an obligation. Of course, free shows get crowed, so people have to arrive very early to guarantee a seat.

There are some “pay what you want” shows which work similarly to the normal paid ones. The best option with those is to head to the box office and get the ticket ahead of time, as the city of Edinburgh doubles its population during the festival, you can expect the affordable shows to be very crowded, especially during the weekends.

With more than 3000 shows, the festival gets a bit tricky to sort. Even veterans who have assisted for many years have to plan what shows to see and where they will be. For all kinds of booking, the Fringe Society offers multiple options:

• The Fringe program: nearly all of the 3000 shows will be listed in the Program, the bible for fringe assisters. The 452 pages have a list of almost everything that it’s happening during the three weeks of the festival, and some people made a tradition of carrying it out and highlighting the shows and performances they want to see.

• The Fringe app: luckily, for those who prefer more technological options, the festival has an app in which they feature the Program. Among other options, people can search shows by genre, time, venue, pricing, and more. It also features a “nearby now” option, for people who like to wander around and see what they can find. The city of Edinburgh offers free wi-fi, so there’s no need to worry about mobile data.

• Planning and booking online: The fringe society also has a website in which people can create an account and access to many options that help them plan their Fringe experience. From creating a personalized calendar to creating a “favorites” list, the website lets the attendants get tickets to the shows and synchronize all their information with the app.

• The “Inspiration machine”: For people who feel a bit overwhelmed with the vast quantity of shows, or want to let the festival surprise them, the Fringe Society offers one of the coolest ways to know what play to attend. The Inspiration Machine is located at the Mound or online at https://inspiration.edfringe.com/, and just like a spinning machine, it randomly picks a show for you and gives you all the info you need. From the name of the show to the name of the company performing it, the inspiration machine will let you know everything you need. You can choose whether you want a child-friendly show or any available show. It also brings information about the place, date, hour, and if the venue is accessible for wheelchairs.

Those are the five “official” ways in which people can know what show to pick and how to arrange their schedule for the festival. However, we believe in a more powerful and useful tool to identify precisely which shows to choose and where are the best places in the entire festival: word of mouth.

Word of mouth is the genesis of advertising, and during Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it becomes people’s best friend. From bartenders to cab riders, the citizens of Edinburgh will offer you a lot of advice on where to find the best shows, where to rest from all the madness, where to eat and drink, and which performances you cannot miss. So, if you are looking to perform during the world’s largest art festival, you need people to notice you, to know that you will be there, and to see the quality of the show you are going to perform. To guarantee you the powerfulness of word of mouth, you have to stick to the traditional advertising methods, because they will let you get in contact with people, talk to them and convince them to see your show.

Luckily, the most common marketing tools to promote shows and performances during the Fringe Festival are posters, banners, flyers and correx signs. Which, conveniently, are also the most cost-effective advertising tools you can order. If you don’t know where to begin with the designing and printing of your advertising for the festival, we gathered some of Edinburgh’s best options in terms of printing for the Fringe Festival. Edinburgh Banners offers some amazing packs for printing your advertising for the festival. Located just a few minutes away from all the Fringe venues, we can deliver all of your orders for venues and performances, and the best part; we offer free delivery!

Edinburgh banners also offer you the option of creating your own flyer pack, poster pack, and banner flyer pack according to your needs and adjusting them to your budget. All products and printing from Edinburgh Banners are done with carbon-neutral materials.

But you might wonder, why are those methods the best options to advertise for the Fringe? Wouldn’t social media work best?

And the answer is yes, but also no. See, this is a festival that features art, creativity, but most importantly, it becomes an interaction place for all the city. The citizens of Edinburgh love their festival and love to get involved in it. Human interaction is one of the best things that come from the Fringe, you get to forget a little bit about the pictures and videos, and focus on the fantastic art performances that are happening right in front of your eyes.

If you want to get noticed during these days, you must be very eye-catching, but most importantly, the people of Edinburgh need to know who you are and where you will be performing. But there is also another trick: the people already know their favourite companies and artists. So you have to be more than attractive to get into their attention. A good advertising strategy will guarantee you a place in people’s hearts and, what will work best for you, a place in their suggestions.

Flyers will let you get in contact with the locals and the tourists. As your team is handing the flyers, they can talk and get people interested in what you are offering. You can also leave some brochures in certain shops and restaurants; they will do the work for you.

If you have an attractive banner displayed for many days before the festival, people will be curious; they will want to see what you are coming up with. If you have a banner a few meters from your venue, people will see where to go and watch you. You have to be near the people to get their attention during all those crazy days.

This August, the city of Edinburgh will be hosting the world’s largest display of culture, art, and creativity. The Fringe Society is working harder every day to offer the best and most organized experience for all the people who want to enjoy the vast amount of shows that will be performing during the festival. And the citizens of Edinburgh will be happy to see and receive the numerous tourist that will be attending the Fringe. Between all those fantastic acts and shows, and that massive amount of people, you need to have the best advertising strategy to catch the locals’ and the tourists’ attention. Advertising with traditional printing methods will give you a way to get in touch with people and lead them to see your performances. Let the creativity and fun begin during the 2020 Fringe festival in Edinburgh!