Edinburgh Fringe set to start despite divisions

The annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins this Sunday, August 3. The build up to this year's Fringe has been overshadowed by a row between the biggest four Fringe venues, who have clubbed together to market themselves as the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, and the smaller venues left outside the cartel.

The four venues concerned are the Gilded Balloon, the Pleasance, the Underbelly and the Assembly Rooms. The Big Four insist that they are not leaving the umbrella of the Fringe - rather they are re branding in a bid to attract sponsors. The senior management at the Big Four venues decided that the Fringe could better market itself. In March, this year, they announced the formation of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival.

William Burdett-Coutts from the Assembly Rooms was reported in The Times on July 29, as having said that: "The financial reality of running these venues is fraught. You see crowds of people at the front of the building and it look like we're doing incredibly well. But behind the scenes things are always incredibly tight."

Tom Sheppard, who runs Edinburgh's Stand comedy club has a different view. "The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the world's largest and best-known arts festival; nobody can say it's a weak brand that needs a helping hand."

According to figures published in The Times today (July 29), the average ticket price for a Fringe show last year was £8.98. Independent travellers in the Scottish capital can enjoy Edinburgh in August with two Walk Talk Tour audio walking tours. Each Walk Talk Tour of Edinburgh costs just £5.95. Customers purchasing both Edinburgh tours simultaneously will receive a twenty per cent discount - meaning that they will only pay £9.52.

The Old & New Towns iPod travel guide begins outside the city's Castle, listeners then descend to the Grassmarket via Granny's Green Steps. Executions were once held in the Grassmarket. Listeners to the Old & New Towns mp3 guided tour can hear about the woman who survived the hangman's noose and the murderer who got off 'scot free.'

Walk Talk Tourists then walk up to George IV bridge and cross the Mound by way of Scotland's Museum of Money, the Museum on the Mound, before walking into Princes Street Gardens.

The Old & New Towns podcast guided tour then continues through Princes Street Gardens. Hear about the Scott Monument and what fate befell its architect. Continue into St Andrew Square. The centre of the Square is dominated by a statue of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. Discover why he earned the title of the uncrowned King of Scotland (long before a young Scottish doctor who tended to the Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin was commemorated in a movie called the Last King of Scotland). To hear an audio sample from the Old & New Towns Edinburgh city guide please click here.

Walk through the Square and onto George Street. See the Church of St Andrew and St George and hear why it had an important role in Scottish ecclesiastical history, and why it is round.

Walk on to the Assembly Rooms. Hear about some of the famous guests to have attended functions at the Assembly Rooms and discover the origins of the nursery rhyme "Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie." The Old & New Towns, Edinburgh travel guide concludes in Charlotte Square. Make the most of your Old & New Towns Edinburgh city walking tour by having looking at the Where & When page, which accompanies the tour. The page provides information about the opening times and admission charges of key attractions along the Old & New Towns tour's route.

Like all our Walk Talk Tours, the Old & New Towns mp3 guided tour comes complete with a downloadable map, so you won't miss a thing. With a Walk Talk Tour you're in charge. No need to stick out like a sore thumb with a guidebook in your hands, or struggle to follow - let alone hear - the tour guide with an umbrella.

The annual Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place in the Square from August 9 - August 25. This year the Book Festival celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. Number 7 Charlotte Square is home to the Georgian House, National Trust of Scotland property and, next door, at Number 6 is Bute House the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland.