When does festival season actually begin? For many, the answer to that is August, when the Fringe, book, film and international festivals kick into gear. But really, the swirl of excitement started with the Edinburgh Jazz And Blues Festival (which wraps up this Sunday) and continues with the Edinburgh Folk And Food Festival, starting tonight and ending on Sunday 27 July. 

Yet the news cycle churns on, and it’s a particularly exciting one for Road. A legendary filmmaker is visiting EIFF, a new venue is opening its doors, and we welcome a prolific Shetland storyteller back to the Fringe.

Ken Loach to visit EIFF…

… alongside regular collaborators Paul Laverty and Rebecca O’Brien for a special In Conversation event. The trio will discuss their fruitful partnership, which includes the Palme D’Or winning I, Daniel Blake and The Wind That Shakes The Barley, the latter of which will receive a retrospective screening on 35mm at this year's festival. 

Known as a political firebrand, Loach has been shaping the cultural landscape since launching his career at the BBC in the early 1960s with social realist work that’s touched on homelessness, union strikes, abortion and other hot button issues. In a time of political upheaval and global turbulence, his views will no doubt be equal parts despairing and inspiring. 

Paul Ridd, CEO and festival director, said: ‘It is a great honour for us to welcome Ken Loach, Paul Laverty and Rebecca O’Brien for what promises to be a lively and fascinating discussion of their work together, with two Palme D’Ors to their names and a body of work that includes ferociously powerful films produced across decades. We are also delighted to be presenting one of their major films The Wind That Shakes The Barley from a 35mm print. It is a genuine thrill to be able to add this formidable trio to a roster of speakers at EIFF in a programme of In Conversation events which already includes Jeremy Thomas, Nia Da Costa, Andrew and Kevin Macdonald, Andrea Arnold and Ben Wheatley.’

Canada and Brazil launch festival programmes…

… in collaboration with, well, us. We’ve helped assemble print programmes for the High Commission Of Canada in the United Kingdom and Instituto Guimarães Rosa, featuring a host of great acts to add to your Festival schedule. Find the print editions from our usual stockists across Edinburgh or read digital editions here. 

Edinburgh Folk & Food Festival opens its doors…

… until Sunday 27 July in George Square Gardens. Usually a purely culinary experience, this is the first time the festival is foregrounding music in its programme, welcoming The Unthanks, Duncan Chisholm, Eliza Carthy & The Revolution, and more folky goodness to its bill. As ever, it’s a welcome run-up to August’s madness. 

Clowning around…

… is always a part and parcel of Fringe season, so here are a couple of shows that highlight the variety and dynamism of the scene right now. First up is SLUGS, which describes itself as a show about ‘nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing,’ which is half-true. It’s a psychedelic melange of puppetry, strange musical interludes, techno-punk and other off-the-wall strangeness from the makers of the well-received Creepy Boys. Catch it at Summerhall from Thursday 31 July–Monday 25 August. 

Then there’s Jeromaia Detto: When I Grow Up..., a more whimsical entry in the clowning canon which finds Detto acting out various jobs with a stage full of costumes and a bundle of imagination. He’ll be warming hearts at Underbelly from Wednesday 30 July–Sunday 24 August. 

Two sides of the clowning coin, then; dig into the Fringe brochure to find plenty more. 

The Gilded Saloon to open at Bristo Square ahead of the Fringe…

… in a joint venture by Paradise Palms, Gilded Balloon and Kelburn Garden Party. The new bar and kitchen is set to open its doors on Wednesday 30 July, alongside a 200-capacity club and venue in the basement. Alongside its pub grub, the new venue will offer a pop-up menu from top chef Tomás Gormley (known for Skua and Heron) throughout August. 

Located next to Paradise Palms, it’ll aim to act as a hub for Fringe performers and a supportive space for artists all year round, providing discounted food and drinks to the creative sector as well as a rehearsal, workshop and collaborative space for established and grassroots artists and promoters. Expect more details of its programme in coming weeks.

Four stars or more 

Marjolein Robertson has been a perennial favourite of The List parish, and she’s back again with Lein, part three of her deeply autobiographical stand-up triptych which started with Marj and O (embarrassingly, it had to be explained to me that she was spelling out her own name). We gave last year’s O a glowing four-star review, writing, ‘Although the show gets bleaker and more serious, with Robertson ultimately relating her travails to the ailing health of the NHS, she’s always a vivacious, puckish comic whose quirks set her apart as a unique act.’ Read the full review here. 

You can catch Marjolein Robertson: Lein at Pleasance Dome from Wednesday 30 July – Sunday 24 August.