Cost of living crises, sponsorship wrangles, major venues going up for sale; it’s been a strange and turbulent time to report on Edinburgh Festival season. So what a relief to be able to sit down, sip an afternoon coffee and type a news round-up that’s almost wholly positive. This week's Road is rammed with inclusive events, diverse podcasts, an event sponsored by us, and a superlative stand-up we’ve rated highly in the past. Read on, learn about a few shows and cross your fingers that the Festival continues to turn that frown upside down.   

Edinburgh Deaf Festival launches programme…

… and issues a plea for further financial support. Now in its third year, the Festival has made its name as a platform for deaf talent in Edinburgh during August, and welcomes both deaf and hearing audiences to its shows. This year’s run will take place from Friday 9–Sunday 18 August, and one highlight from the programme is The Ghost Of Alexander Blackwood, which tells the story of the pastor of the first Deaf Church in 1830. 

Philip Gerrard, CEO of festival organisers Deaf Action, said, ‘Blackwood was a deaf pioneer, and an important figure in the campaign for deaf people to have equal access and opportunities.

‘Our organisation, and this festival, keep that spirit alive. This year’s event will be a bright and vibrant celebration of deaf theatre, comedy, cabaret and wider culture with lots for deaf and hearing audiences to enjoy.

‘A funding crisis created severe doubts about whether we would be able to hold a festival in 2024, but we managed to survive… for the moment.

‘However, we urgently need support to make the event sustainable and allow it to survive and develop and will be using this year’s festival to campaign for a fair deal for deaf arts, artists and audiences.’

The festival has been repeatedly turned down for Creative Scotland funding and has relied on one-off donations to keep it alive. Find out more about the Edinburgh Deaf Festival programme here. 

Tickets for Edinburgh International Book Festival go on sale…

… with more than 500 shows to choose from. We’ve already covered some highlights from the literary blowout on these here pages, but let us recommend Fern Brady’s chat about her memoir Strong Female Character, sponsored by, well, The List. Grab a ticket and we’ll see you there. 

The Fringing And Thriving podcast announces guests…

… as it prepares to launch on Friday 28 June. Hosted by Charlotte Anne-Tilley, the show aims to provide performers, arts workers and festival-goers with insider tips on how to navigate Festival season. It’ll spotlight an array of female, trans, and non-binary artists, including Fleabag producer Francesca Moody, Character Flaw writer and performer Philippa Dawson, How I Learned To Swim's Prentice Productions, Abrasion writer and performer Meg Rose Dixon, and more. 

Tilley told us, ‘I wanted to start the Fringing And Thriving podcast because I remember feeling daunted when I first went to EdFringe. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the whole experience. This podcast addresses the practicalities and emotional highs and lows of participating in the Fringe as well as providing artists with a platform to promote their shows and share their stories ahead of the festival.’

You can tune into Fringing And Thriving on all good streaming services. 

Four stars or more 

Last year he was tackling the Andrew Tate generation, this year comedian Sam Lake is chatting Spain, grief and the Ice Age movies in his new stand-up hour Esméralda.

We awarded his 2023 show Aspiring DILF four stars, writing, ‘The binding theme of this show is why more and more men are falling for the lure of alt-right shock-jock status: Eamonn Holmes is on GB News and Andrew Tate... exists. And so on. Isn’t there a more positive ideal of masculinity we can strive for? Lake thinks the answer is BDE (that means Big DADDY Energy, clearly) and he explains why over a nicely layered hour of material that takes its place in a proud pantheon of gay-men-understanding-straight-men-better-than-straight-men-do patter. With cum gags.’ Read the full review here. 

Fancy a cum gag or five? You can catch Lake at the Festival from Wednesday 31 July–Sunday 25 August at Monkey Barrel.