My Edinburgh Fringe Trip 2019| CarenzaOnBooks

For the sixth year in a row (or maybe the seventh, I'm losing track), I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I love going to the Fringe each summer, it's always one of the highlights of my summer and this year was no exception. I will be honest and say that this was probably the smallest amount of shows I've seen at the Fringe. I only saw four of the five I had planned, which meant it was quite a small trip. Except for last year, I've only been able to attend the Fringe for one day meaning the number of shows I can see is limited. However, even though I only saw four shows, I saw some really good shows.

Show One- Vampire Hospital Waiting Room

This was partly for research for the play I've been writing this summer, but my family and I decided that we should go an see this show. It is a mashup of various genres and was a great start to my trip. A comedy musical set in a hospital waiting room while one of the doctors tries to become a vampire. It was a laugh a minute, filled with great songs and funny moments, some of which I expect weren't planned but were funny nevertheless. It took stereotypes used in these types of horror films and ramped them up to make them even funnier. It was clear from the beginning that this was a bit of a piss-take show, which are always good dun at the Fringe. 

The Missed Show- The Accident Did Not Take Place

Sadly, this was a show that we just missed arriving in time for. We had thought it was on at 1:15, but it actually started at 1pm so we just missed it. Some venues at the Fringe are very strict about the late arrivals policy and this was one of them. We arrived at 1pm, and we weren't allowed admission. It was very frustrating to not be allowed in, but sadly you have to accept this policy. It became more frustrating as at our final show of the day, they were letting people in a good ten minutes after the show had started and even started it five minutes late to allow people to arrive. I hope this is something that is fixed for future Fringes.  

Show Two- Anguis 

The only bit of "serious" theatre we saw at the Fringe. It was a play written by Sheila Atim, the Olivier award-winning actress. The story was told through a live podcast typesetting. The podcast was a scientific one and the person being interviewed was Queen Cleopatra. At the surface, it was about two strong women from different eras, but underneath there were themes of the struggles of women in science, women in general and the treatment of people of colour. It was punctured with moments of humour and had some excellent songs in it. If Sheila Atim was to write another play, I would happily go and see it, knowing I was in safe hands. 

Show Three- West End Producer Live: Free Willy

If you are familiar with the theatre world, then you will have undoubtedly heard of West End Producer. If not then here's a very quick summary- a man in a somewhat scary mask (sorry) talks about life in the West End in a flamboyant way. I'll be honest, this was my least favourite show we saw. It wasn't a type of show I'd normally gravitate towards as I'm not a fan of audience participation and it wasn't my style of comedy. It was still very interesting, but the audience participation and scary mask really put me off. I think my family enjoyed it more than I did. And the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it, just not me. 

Show Four- Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea-Witch

Another spectacular show by the Fat Rascal Theatre company. I saw Vulvarine last year and we were desperate to see their new musical. A feminist, anti-body-shaming retelling of the Little Mermaid from the perspective of Ursula? What's not to love? It was another laugh a minute, with rewritten versions of famous songs from the Little Mermaid including Kiss the Girl being about consent and Part of Your World about Ariel being desperate for a quick shag. The set was incredible, the cast was phenomenal, it was the best show I saw this year. The only sad thing was that I had to run to catch the train home as soon as it ended. I will happily and definitely go and see anything they do again. They are a theatre company to keep an eye on.             

Meeting Cassandra Clare and Holly Black| CarenzaOnBooks

On August 19th 2017, I had the pleasure of meeting Cassandra Clare and Holly Black at their Edinburgh signing. I had seen that they were doing a UK tour and knew that I had to get tickets. I missed out on London tickets (which in hindsight I'm happy about as I would have had to stay in a hotel), so I got tickets to their Edinburgh event instead. My family lives a reasonable train journey away, so after a 5 and a quarter hour car journey home the previous day (arriving home at 12:30 am) it became real to me that I was going to meet them.

Cassandra Clare's books have had a huge impact on my life. Aside from Harry Potter, they are what got me into reading. I have been a loyal fan since 2013 and to finally met her four years later was a dream come true. I took Lord of Shadows (my tabbed copy), City of Bones (movie -tie in edition, this is how I discovered the books) and Clockwork Angel and purchased The Darkest Part of the Forest at the event.

We arrived in Edinburgh nice and early as there were some other things we wanted to do before the event. Walking around Edinburgh reminded me how much I love this city. It's somewhere I would love to live in the future. Exploring the city reminded me off a holiday I had their a few years ago where we just explored the city. Going to Edinburgh during the festival period is one of my favourite periods to visit. There is just so much to see and something for everyone.

We joined the queue for the event at after 3 o'clock, meaning we were nice and early. It was good we got their so early as there was already a impressive queue. We got good seats in the venue, four rows back and right in front of the panel. Asides from times where I thought the tent was literally going to blow away in Wizard of Oz fashion and Cassie's mic failing, the panel went off without a hitch. I had no idea it was going to be a Q+A style panel and really enjoyed listening to everyone's questions, and Cassie's and Holly's responses. Me being me, I didn't pluck up the courage to ask a question. I regret that in hindsight, but being in the same room as these amazing women was enough for me.

Then came the signing. Cassie signed one book and stamped two others, whereas Holly signed anything you had. It must have gotten very overwhelming in the tent as Holly began running up and down the line signing books. Thank God for post it notes as it meant I didn't have to try and spell my awkward name (which I love, but no one ever knows how to spell it). Holly and Cassie where both very complimentary of my name, which always makes me smile as there are days where I'm self-conscious of how unusual it is.

I think I had to wait for about a hour to meet Cassie, but the queue moved very quickly, which was surprising because of how many people there were. This is probably the biggest signing I've been to to date. As I had taken my tabbed copy of Lord of Shadows (review is still in the works, it's a beast of a review and I want it to be as near to perfect before I post it) I got lots of questions about the tabs on my way in.

Meeting Cassie was a dream come true. She took her time with each person and listened to everything they had to say. My mum and dad (who I am very thankful to for taking me there) took photos and I have an amazing photo of Cassie having a WTF moment over my tabs in Lord of Shadows. She asked me to explain them and I managed to in a mostly coherent way. There are a thousand things I wish I had said to her and hopefully I'll get to in the future. It made my heart sing when she took a genuine interest in my little blog.

We were given a exclusive UK Lord of Shadows poster and sampler of The Cruel Prince as we left and then we had to hurry off to the train station to go home.

Thank you to Holly and Cassie for making the day as special as it was. It's a day I will cherish for the rest of my life and I hope I get to meet both of you in the future. I am still in awe that I met you only a few days ago.

I'm going to finish this with a few of my favourite photos my parents took of me meeting Holly and Cassie.
 

How to Survive the Edinburgh Fringe| CarenzaOnBooks

As someone who has visited the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 3 years in a row, I have learnt a lot about how to "survive" the festival. I personally only went for a day each time, meaning there was some travelling involved. But, if you are planning on going to the festival this year, then here are some tips I have learnt over my 3 years of visiting.

1) Sensible Footwear

A slightly obvious tip is to wear sensible shoes. The festival is spread across the entirety of Edinburgh (which is very hilly) and there will be times when your events are quite far apart. I have fond memories of running across Edinburgh and my feet killing the next day. I would not recommend wearing sandals, but I have survived by wearing shoes I find very comfy. 

2) Plan Ahead

In my very first trip, my family and I didn't plan anything before we arrived. We just walked up and down the Royal Mile collecting leaflets (which is a really good place to find out if anything is on). Get the catalogue and see what is on when you are there. I would also recommend printing a map of Edinburgh if you are not familiar with it. Another thing I would recommend is writing a list of what you are going to see with times and venue numbers down so then you don't have to haul the catalogue with you.

3) Travel Light

If you are only going for a day, then I would advise you to travel light. Running around Edinburgh is tiring. When I go, my family takes 1 rucksack between us. All we pack is food for lunch and a big bottle of water. We take a rucksack because usually we get something from the Fringe pop up store and we almost always go to Forbidden Planet (but that's just us). It's also good to take a rucksack because if it's hot, then you have somewhere to store your coat which means it will be easier to run across Edinburgh. 

4) Take a Coat

Scotland is famous for being a little bit on the rainy side and as someone who has visited Scotland before and grew up in the North-West of England, I know how much it can rain. You don't need to take a big rain coat, you can just take one of this little ones that curl up into a pod to be travel efficient. There is nothing worse than being caught out in the rain and spending your time being grumpy and soggy. Trust me, I have had to stand outside venues waiting to be let in while it is bucketing it down, it's not a nice feeling.

5) Have Fun    

And finally, have fun! The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an amazing experience and I have thoroughly enjoyed each of my trips. There is such a lovely atmosphere at the festival, you get to meet lots of people who are interested in culture. There is something for everyone at the festival and the tickets aren't that expensive. You get a good value for money. I have met people from all over the world because of the festival. People travel from all corner's of the globe to come to this festival and rightly so. 

I am unbelievably excited to go back this August. I'm actually going twice this year, once for the Book Festival part (which I have never been to before) and once for the Fringe itself. I am going to make posts about both of those trips and I can't wait to share them with you.

Carenza