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Arts feature

The death of the Edinburgh Fringe

Lloyd Evans finds the newly returned Edinburgh Fringe quieter, more low-key — and all the better for it

14 August 2021

9:00 AM

14 August 2021

9:00 AM

The Edinburgh Fringe has returned after last year’s cancellation but it’s hard to find evidence of the festival on the streets. The atmosphere is weird, unsettling, ghost-like. The defining feature of the city in August is the constant din of music, but as soon as I arrived at Waverley Station I noticed that the pulsing backbeat was missing.

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Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs until 30 August.

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