We’re blissfully drama-free so far when it comes to the Edinburgh Festival. The usual problems that face the Scottish capital during August will persist (accommodation that costs the same as a small palace, overtourism that balloons the city’s population to near-breaking point, middle- and upper-class performers far outnumbering their working-class counterparts) but little of the same existential dread has reared its head, and that’s something to be acknowledged. At the very least, it makes these articles a mite less dramatic. 

In this week’s controversy-free Road, we’ll be peeking at the Made In Scotland showcase, sampling what the Food Festival has cooked up (folk tunes, as it happens), and pondering the place of AI at an arts festival (oh wait, there’s the existential dread). 

Made In Scotland showcase launches programme…

… providing a snapshot of some of the most consequential Scottish creatives working today. Sixteen events are in the programme (all of which have been championed by Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund) encompassing music, theatre, exhibitions and children’s shows. 

There are too many shows to mention, but a few on our radar include Chunky Jewellery, Barrowland Ballet’s ambitious tale of ‘two friends, one year, two births, a death, 18 bursts of laughter, 34,000 tears (each) and one piece of chunky jewellery’; the immersive installation MŮO from Lomond Campbell, which uses the radiation of the cosmos as its main theme; A Journey Of Flight, which brings a taste of the islands to Dance Base, with choreography and performance from Kathryn Gordon; and Balfour Reparations, a performance lecture discussing UK’s colonial legacy in Palestine. 

Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary For Constitution, External Affairs And Culture said: ‘The Made In Scotland showcase is all about highlighting the best of our new talent to the world. Year-on-year Scottish artists have capitalised on the opportunity Made In Scotland provides, so I am delighted that this year’s programme is bringing more shows than ever to international audiences of all ages.

‘The Scottish Government is proud to support this year’s Made in Scotland showcase with £540,000 of funding through our Expo fund, which aims to help festivals innovate and maximise national and international opportunities for the artists who contribute to them. I have no doubt those artists featured this year will enhance Scotland’s culture sector by forging new connections across the world.’ 

Check out the full Made In Scotland programme here. 

Edinburgh Folk & Food Festival adds tunes to the menu…

… in an expansion of the Festival’s usual culinary excellence. Taking place at George Square Gardens, the suite of food and drink from local traders will be diversified with a programme of free and ticketed folk music events. Performers include Duncan Chisholm, The Unthanks, The East Pointers, and more. 

On expanding the Folk & Food Festival, Assembly Festival managing director Dani Rae said: ‘We’re really excited for the Edinburgh Folk & Food Festival this year, having built an incredible programme of tasty treats over the years, it’s brilliant to add some of the best folk music in the business. We hope foodies and folkers come and join us for what is set to be our best one yet.’

Taking place a hair’s breadth before the Fringe (Friday 18 – Sunday 27 July), the Food Festival has always been a well-stocked haven and hangout spot for locals and food aficionados alike, and the addition of some laidback folk music will be a jewel in that particular crown. Check out the full programme here.

FringeRat scurries onto the scene…

…to make sifting through Fringe listings a little more fun. This nifty wee site will show visitors a video of a performer at random. The user can then buy a ticket for the performer or hit the ‘scamper on’ button, which will take them to another randomly selected video. At time of writing, it hosts a catalogue of 700 performers. 

The website’s developer Alexander Minto said: ‘FringeRat is inspired by my old method for finding new comedy acts at the Fringe: I would make a big list of people I hadn’t heard of and watch five minutes of each on YouTube.

‘I found it brought them to life more than just seeing their picture and a description of their show, and I discovered a few of my favourite comedians that way. Hopefully the site can help other people do the same thing, but with less effort.’

On a ten-minute jaunt through FringeRat, we watched a video from Aussie comic Henry Bretz performing in a comedy club resembling a basement from a snuff video; another Aussie comic, Daniel Muggleton, on what looked like a primetime Live At The Apollo-type show (we’re sure that's a coincidence and not some Down Under bias in the algorithm) ; A clip of the ever-talented Desiree Burch on Sky 1; and a music video for Kunt And The Gang’s ‘I Sucked Off A Bloke’, which made us a little bit queasy. Sounds like a good day at the Fringe to us. Check out the site. 

Chortle’s Fast Fringe line-up announced….

… giving London punters a 29-act sampler of comedy and variety acts heading to the Fringe this year. Taking place at Pleasance in Islington on Thursday 3 July, a few notable names road-testing their new material include Ian Smith, Tiff Stevenson, Ria Lina, Marc Jennings and Fringe icon Arthur Smith. 

If you’re not kicking about Islington, the show will also be live streamed on NextUp comedy. Fast Fringe will also be present in Edinburgh itself during August at the Pleasance Dome every day at 6.30pm, showcasing 12 acts a day in one of the most efficient speed-dating events you’re likely to encounter. 

Big Nights At La Belle promises music fix for Fest-goers…

… at a time in Edinburgh’s cultural calendar that doesn’t always feel like it puts pop music to the fore. As the title suggests, this music strand will take place at La Belle Angele and features a who’s who of big hitters playing in an intimate space. The bill includes The Libertines’ Peter Docherty, witty singer-songwriter BC Camplight, indie-folk mainstays This Is The Kit, and more. 

Generative AI set to take over the Fringe…

… in a theme of this year that seems almost inevitable as our oligarch overlords and tech titans continue the process of normalising highly controversial software. First of the bunch is The Waiting Room (C Venues, Monday 4 – Saturday 16 August), which describes itself as a ‘minimalist interactive space placing the audience’s imagination at the centre of the story’ with a custom AI technology that will personalise each participant’s experience in real time. 

Then there’s AI Campfire (Venue 13, Friday 1 – Saturday 23 August) , an experience led by an ‘A.I. database-turned-host born from the lost Green Men who conjures memories of Scotland’s spirits, like Selkies and Kelpies’, which may very well spark an intriguing tension between ancient stories and modern tech. 

Alongside these two shows (which are two of many), the Edinburgh Fringe has signed a sponsorship deal with AI company Anthropic to become the ‘official education partner’ of this year’s festival, after a similar agreement last year. Tony Lankester, chief executive of the society that co-ordinates the festival, said: ‘AI is a highly debated topic in society, particularly in the creative sector – and rightly so. Thankfully, highly debated topics are the bread and butter of the Fringe, and I can’t think of a better place for this debate to continue and develop.’

Of course, providing space for a debate is very different to entering a partnership with a company that many creatives feel threatens their livelihood, with the latter choice implying a tacit endorsement. Either way, the genie is very much out of the bottle on this one; time will tell what AI’s true impact on the already fragile state of the arts will be. Our thanks to Chortle for their coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe sponsorship deal. 

Four stars or more 

The always surprising imagination of Bebe Cave is striking the Fringe again in CHRISTBRIDE, which follows ‘a female mystic in a world of male dullards, as she escapes from a life of monotony to a life of devotion.’ We were big fans of Cave last year, when she popped up to Edinburgh to perform The Screen Test, about a Hollywood actor pushed to the edge. ‘Through her comically lithe script and impeccable performance as an actor on the edge of a delusional breakdown, this is a story with plenty to say about the place of women in an industry that still values looks over talent and which remains dominated by men,’ we wrote in our four-star review. ‘Come for Cave, stay for the righteous anger bubbling underneath this strong piece of work.’ Read the full review here. 

You can catch Bebe Cave: CHRISTBRIDE at Pleasance from Wednesday 30 July – Sunday 24 August. 

We'll be catching some zeds next week (AKA annual leave) so the Road will return on Friday 6 June. Until then…