FESTIVAL CITY:
EDINBURGH
by Andrew Mersmann
Tens of thousands of artists and millions
of audience members invade this Scottish city each year
during Edinburgh's Festival Season, when seven
simultaneous festivals blend and provide counterpoint
to one another in a frenetic dance, providing the largest
arts experience in the world.
There are twelve major annual festivals
in Edinburgh, and most of them take place in the summer.
From late June through mid-September, visitors can enjoy
events like the International Film Festival (two
weeks in June), Jazz & Blues Festival (first
week of August), Art Festival (end of July through
first week of September), Mela Festival (first
weekend of August), Festival Fringe (last three
weeks of August), Military Tattoo (last three
weeks of August), International Festival (mid
August through beginning of September), and the International
Book Festival (second half of August). During other
times of year, travelers to Edinburgh take part in the
International Science Festival (spring), International
Storytelling Festival (late October), and Hogmanay,
the largest New Year's celebration in the world.
When I was a theatre student in college,
the Festival Fringe was the Holy Grail. We spoke of
it in reverent church tones - it was international,
it was socially vibrant, it was all about creation and
freedom of expression, and there were no rules. There's
lots of down and dirty art making here, also refined
lyrical beauty, and everything in between. From one-person
shows to huge ensembles, it is circus, ballet, guerilla,
agitprop, stand-up comedy, classical and contemporary
drama, commedia and comedy, tragedy and history, kabuki
and noh, all wrapped up in a burrito of sharing. You
might see a midnight performance filled with rage and
angst in a public restroom, then go to the pub to share
pints with a quartet of kittens still wearing their
leotards with tails and whisker face paint. The festival
sensibility that absolutely anything is not only possible
but downright likely, permeates every experience you
will have during an Edinburgh summer.
I've visited Edinburgh before, during
other times of year, but am always surprised at how
steep the side streets and narrow closes are. Each lane
and alley splits off the main drag, the Royal Mile that
runs from the clifftop Edinburgh Castle down
the slope to the Palace of Holyrood House (home
of the Queen when she's in town), like veins of a leaf.
Walking up or down from this spine of the city takes
a considerable amount of leaning forward or aft for
balance and some chugging thighs to get where you're
going (watch for uneven cobbles). While the Royal Mile
is home to too many silly t-shirt and kilt shops, it
is the beating heart of festival time, and the parade
of characters promenades here morning, noon, and night.
Last time I was in town, I stayed at
The Glasshouse hotel, one of my favorite spots
in the UK and a super-modern mix of airy, bright spaces
and artful interiors contrasted with an older façade
that seems to break open with glass additions. The result
in the guestrooms is spacious and luxurious, a real
magnet for savvy travelers. The hotel is not as close
to the festival action as I would like, but it is quite
close to the Pink Triangle area of concentrated
gay bars and clubs.
I've always been intrigued by The
Witchery by the Castle, an intimate guesthouse and
romantic restaurant, hidden in plain sight right near
the castle gates. You have to know it's there, and with
only seven gothic, over-the-top suites, often booked
by celebrities, you'll need reservations well in advance
if you want to stay here. The restaurant, too, drips
in lavishness like the set of a vampire film, and the
atmosphere is bewitching (pun intended). This is for
special occasions or bottomless wallets, but the locally
sourced foods (venison, pork three ways, and especially
Scottish seafood platter with oysters, langoustines,
clams, mussels, East Lothian crab, and salmon) are,
indeed, something to write home about.
This visit, I'm staying at designer-driven
Hotel Missoni, perfectly located right on the
Royal Mile and George IV Bridge. This swanky but simple
hotel pops with telltale Missoni fabrics and color palette,
with huge, glossy walls of purple or chartreuse, groovy,
swoovy, multi-colored stripes, black-and-white patterns
of bold line and design like 70s Doodle-Art waiting
to be painted, and color-saturated lighting making it
all glow. The bar is a welcoming spot for Italianesque
afternoon espresso or designer drinks of a fruitier
variety than other pubs in town offer. The rooms are
small but make up for it in pizzazz, equally vibrant
in design with signature patterns and fabrics. Besides,
during festival season, because so little time will
be spent in your room, size matters little. It is a
nice and super-stylish place to come home to (ask for
a room in the rear, overlooking a peaceful courtyard,
to avoid Royal Mile volume day and night).
CLICK FOR
SLIDESHOW OF EDINBURGH
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Food during festival season can be catch-as-catch-can
as you tend to always be running from one performance
venue to the next, or queuing up outside. Right around
the corner from the Hotel Missoni is one of my favorite
spots for a nice, traditional meal, The Grain Store.
On the second floor in tight quarters with stone arches
and vaults, the former storage rooms are now intimate
dining rooms. The menu is based on the freshest local
produce with lots of options for traditional Scottish
favorites: haggis, black pudding, neeps and tatties, ox
tongue—and it is uniformly fantastic. There is a
sophisticated twist in sauces and presentation making
hearty country fare quite elegant, and the service and
setting are both magnificent.
On the same stretch of side road is
one of my favorite shops, Demijohn. Self-described
as a “liquid deli,” balsamic vinegars, olive
oils, and especially their hand-infused liquors and
single-batch whiskies are all in giant, Italian glass,
spigoted bottles. You choose a blown-glass bottle to
fill with anything from elderflower vodka to redcurrant
gin or decades-old single malt Scotch, and draw your
fill. They are well-practiced at sealing bottles for
travel.
It is fun to tuck into massive portions
of simple but sophisticated cuisine at Tony's Table,
a casual bistro with a menu that changes daily. There
are always plenty of meats and game on offer, but veggie
options also get star billing around a large communal
table downstairs or in the upstairs bistro. There is
no artifice to hearty comfort foods like enormous pot
pies (with varying meat options), curries, and a filling
specialty: Chili Pig Pie (a pot pie filled with stewy,
slow-cooked pork belly chili and beans). You won't leave
hungry, guaranteed.
It is also easy to grab a bite and a
pint at any of the city's famous pubs. Fish and chips
are almost always a good bet if calories don't matter.
While it is on every tourist map and often crowded,
I still get a kick each time I go to Greyfriars Bobby's
Bar, just outside the gates to the Greyfriars
Cemetery and famous for the Skye terrier named Bobby
who waited by his owner's grave for 14 years, hoping
for his return. The black lacquered tables and hail-fellow-well-met
energy makes it a bustling spot for camaraderie and
haggis (or less adventuresome, stick-to-your-ribs pub
fare).
The Edinburgh Festival itself also has
a beer garden area called the Underbelly with
booths offering foods and beer on tap. Later in the
evenings there are lots of music acts taking a turn
on Underbelly's stage. Food vendors at the Mela Festival
(celebrating Edinburgh's minority ethnic communities)
provide a wide array of international flavors, and the
curries I tried were fantastic.
Oddly, Edinburgh's gay bars are particularly
quiet during these hedonistic days and nights. I could
almost hear crickets when the bartender at normally
crowded CC Blooms told me, “Everybody is
queer during festival, and none of the locals are left
in town anyway. They take holiday so you lot can invade,
and every pub in town is a gay bar, or not, or all of
the above.” There is a pansexual acceptance of
everyone, and flamboyant behavior is the norm instead
of the extreme, so no one bats an eye at amorous pairings…or
groupings…of every variety.
I love a place drenched in history where
you can walk around the corner to find a man balanced
on his head with a bucket attached to his ass, or enormous-bellied,
bearded fairy godmothers in tutus, and every pedestal
or pylon topped with foul-mouthed nuns, princesses with
makeup leprosy, and ghosts…always the ghosts (some
things about Edinburgh are consistent all year).
Continued
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