Blogs

Press Assistant Deborah Smith Gives a Local’s Viewpoint

At Festival Highlights, we buy a lot of papers. There’s nothing like
seeing five star reviews in print, or the announcements of our two Fringe First
awards for An Instinct for Kindness and Somewhere
Beneath It All, A Small Fire Burns Still

So I’ve got to know our local newsagent on Nicolson Street pretty well.
While chatting to one of the shop assistants recently, he declared “Just a few
more days left, and then we get our city back”. I agreed. It’ll be nice for a
ten minute bus journey to take ten minutes rather than forty. I’m looking
forward to seeing our streets uncluttered by discarded flyers and free of
leering comedians on huge posters adorned with graffiti and the ghost outlines of
controversial stickers.

There are a sprinkling of us locals amongst the Festival Highlights
team, and doubtless hundreds more across Edinburgh who benefit from the sudden
influx of festival jobs and 5am closing times. And I can testify that the
festival doesn’t just invade our city and provide jobs. It totally takes over
our lives. I’ve become absorbed in the Fringe bubble that most Festival
veterans seem accustomed to, where it becomes normal to skip to the Arts
section and ignore the front page, and when celebrating my dad’s 60th
birthday was reduced to an item on a ‘to do’ list amongst cuttings to circulate
and press tickets to book. When my invisible dog chased cyclists around Bristo
Square a few days ago while promoting Lights, Camera, Walkies, it seemed abnormally normal.

We locals have the luxurious option to return to normality with the
ease of a bus ride home. On days off I have intended to see shows I’ve read
rave reviews about, but often found it’s so nice to stay home and see friends and
actually wash some clothes that I’ve rarely left Leith. I think taking these
mini-breaks from the Fringe have kept me saner than I had expected to be at
this stage, but they’ve also made me wish it was longer. I want to see more
things and stay out later and make the most of every free hour!

So even though it’ll be lovely to wander down the Royal Mile in a few
days without collecting enough flyers to start a small bonfire, I’ve totally
loved being part of this bizarre Fringe bubble and I can’t wait for it to return
next year.