A look back at this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival Street Performers

National World - Broadcast Video

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Street Performers 2023 look back.

Transcript

00:00 Edinburgh's Fringe Festival came to an end this week.

00:04 A four week event that saw nearly 2.5 million tickets sold

00:08 and bringing in audiences from approximately 170 countries.

00:12 But alongside the 288 festival venues, the largest performing arts festival in the world

00:17 also welcomed nearly 500 street performers, buskers and street artists

00:21 as part of the Fringe Street events.

00:27 Spread across Edinburgh from 11.15am till 7pm

00:31 it's the street performances that play such an important role

00:34 in creating a festival atmosphere around Scotland's capital.

00:38 In this video we look back at this year's Fringe Festival

00:42 and meet some of the performers who travelled to Edinburgh this year.

00:46 For the artists, each morning begins outside St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile

00:51 where they meet at 10am to find out their schedule for the day.

00:55 So the way it works, you have to register to be a performer at the Fringe

01:00 and then when we arrive we get a little lanyard which has got our name on it

01:05 and a little bit to say that we paid for the storage where we can keep all our stuff.

01:08 And then every morning at 10am we all come here and we put all of our lanyards into a big hat essentially

01:16 and then there's a sheet with all of the different pitches and all the different times available on them

01:20 and basically it's first come first served.

01:22 So when your name comes out of the hat you get to then pick the show that you then want to do.

01:26 So it means that from day to day there's ambiguity

01:29 so you don't necessarily know what you're going to be doing the next day.

01:31 We found it's the fairest way to make sure that it's random and that everybody gets the same treatment.

01:38 So we chose to make it as fair as possible.

01:40 I do physical comedy and circus, yeah, and a lot of improvisation.

01:44 It's kind of a fun time to be here as well with all the other performers, we're all joking around always.

01:51 It's a great little community.

01:53 I would say maybe the West Parliament's good for me for the focus

01:56 because sometimes I can get a bit unfocused and I play a clown.

02:01 [Laughs]

02:04 And yeah, so that's a good spot for me.

02:07 Hunter Square not so much.

02:09 I tried it yesterday and there's lots going on.

02:12 I do a lot of improvisation so I get quite distracted.

02:14 The mid-high street for a lot of the performers, they do like...

02:21 I'm so sorry.

02:23 It's playing up.

02:25 I'm usually pretty good at this, getting a bit distracted.

02:29 So today I lucked out, man.

02:31 So I got 5.15 in West Parliament today.

02:34 So yeah, so I'm buzzing.

02:36 It's usually a little bit quieter then but I kind of like that

02:39 because then when the people that are there, they're there with me.

02:42 So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

02:44 We're like one big family essentially and a lot of the time

02:47 we'll be on a similar circuit around the world and work in similar festivals.

02:51 But it is a really supportive, amazing group.

02:54 And we're kind of...

02:56 A lot of countries in the world are represented here.

02:58 Do you know what I mean? There's a lot of diversity.

03:00 And some of the folks here have been doing this for years.

03:02 So to be able to tap into what works or talking about routines

03:06 or different ideas for shows.

03:08 It's just a massive melting pot of creativity.

03:12 It's just like, yeah, it's a joy.

03:14 It's a great thing to get up for in the morning.

03:16 I'm a whipcracker mostly, a juggler sometimes,

03:31 and a comedian as well here and there.

03:36 I want to hear everybody clapping, everybody cheering.

03:39 If you have a little baby, toss it in the air.

03:42 My final two stunts are up next.

03:45 Let's make this one loud. Let's make it last.

03:48 On the count of three, let's make it count.

03:50 It's good. It's good energy.

03:52 Your friends from all over the world are here.

03:54 That's what I come for.

03:55 The camaraderie of seeing all the different artists

03:58 from all parts of the world.

04:00 It's still early, but for me it just takes me a minute

04:03 to get used to the different crowds,

04:06 everything that's happening all at once.

04:09 But it's good.

04:10 This is my second time.

04:27 I think people are very kind,

04:32 and have a very big energy.

04:34 I want to come here every year.

04:37 If I can use fire, I do a fire show.

04:45 It's very original.

04:47 I use what's called rope darts.

04:50 When I can't use fire, I do a circus stunt.

04:54 It's a pipe and a roller board,

04:58 and a juggling knife.

05:00 My performance career is now 12 years.

05:04 But when I started the English show,

05:10 it was in 2019.

05:15 So the English show is four years, or three years.

05:21 I'm going to help you.

05:23 I've been coming to the Edinburgh Festival

05:28 for a little over five years.

05:31 But mostly it was just to see shows before.

05:34 I started being a street performer just before COVID hit.

05:38 That's when I got started,

05:39 and then COVID put a little bit of a dent in that.

05:41 It's only in the last year that I've really focused on it.

05:44 I always did acting in school.

05:46 I really enjoyed that.

05:47 I used to work as a tour guide.

05:49 I feel like I've always been a performer at heart.

05:51 It's absolutely magic, honestly.

05:54 It's the biggest arts and culture festival in the world.

05:57 As a performer, generally, you travel quite a lot.

05:59 So it can be lonely at times.

06:01 Whereas the Edinburgh Fringe is this amazing thing

06:03 because all these people who do the same sort of profession as you

06:06 are all in the one place, all supporting each other.

06:08 It's a wonderful community,

06:10 and the audiences are the best in the world.

06:12 You've just got the best friends in the world.

06:14 It's really like nothing else.

06:16 When you're doing dangerous things,

06:17 I think it's important to know what you're doing

06:19 and make sure that you're doing them safely.

06:21 But I do have a first aid certificate.

06:23 Yeah, this is the first time.

06:36 I've been a performer for 15 years,

06:38 but I've always wanted to come here,

06:40 but I've always postponed.

06:41 But this year, I said, "You know what?

06:43 Let me make the effort and come."

06:44 So yeah, it's the first time.

06:45 Does it meet your expectations?

06:47 How's it been so far, even up to earlier days?

06:49 It's been okay.

06:50 And I think because of the lack of funding,

06:52 it's not as big as it used to be.

06:55 That's what I heard.

06:56 So I'm not sure if this is what I expected

07:00 because, I mean, this is the kind of crowds I get in London.

07:02 I was expecting a much bigger crowd,

07:04 but I think maybe the publicity was not as much

07:07 as it used to be in previous years.

07:09 Yeah.

07:10 I use physical comedy in my facial expressions

07:21 and my imagination.

07:23 Improvisation as well.

07:25 I was a true actor.

07:28 Correct, yeah. I act as well.

07:30 Thank you so much.

07:34 Hello, everybody!

07:36 My name is Dina Perilou.

07:38 And it's an absolute honor to be here with you.

07:44 It's extremely exciting and extremely challenging.

07:47 It's like the best school I've ever done.

07:49 I'm personally a dance student.

07:52 But when I came here for the first time last year,

07:56 after my first day, I felt like I learned more

07:59 than the three years of university

08:01 because you're immediately in contact with audience response,

08:06 with stage challenges,

08:09 and you have an immediate response on the work you've done,

08:13 which is what matters as an artist.

08:15 I definitely like the way children listen to stories

08:20 and the language we use to tell stories to children.

08:23 But I don't see my show and my art

08:26 to be entirely only addressed to children.

08:29 I like to speak to adults.

08:31 I like adults that like the children's language

08:34 and the children's playfulness.

08:36 And I really enjoy when there's teenagers and adults at my shows.

08:40 It turns out so well, actually.

08:42 I hope to keep doing a fusion of dance, clown, and puppetry.

08:57 Ten years ago, I went around the world.

09:01 I was busking around the world, touring, and finished.

09:06 But then I didn't go to Ejinbara.

09:11 So I want to go to Ejinbara.

09:14 It's a big festival, so it's my dream.

09:17 So I want to go in here now. Come.

09:20 [music]

09:26 Here we go!

09:27 [music]

09:30 People smile, and so, yeah, very kind.

09:34 And so, Japan and Ejinbara are so different.

09:38 And so, because Ejinbara is a busking culture,

09:42 Japan is not a busking culture.

09:45 And so, yeah, I love it here. I love it.

09:50 [music]

09:53 I've probably come up to the Fringe at least four or five times,

09:57 kind of spanning from probably about seven, eight years ago.

10:00 I think it was probably the first one.

10:02 And my show was very different back then.

10:04 I kind of used to do chainsaws and a lot of the dangerous stuff.

10:08 And then just over the years, I got some mentoring

10:11 from an amazing performer here, Herbie Treehead,

10:13 who's been coming up here. I think he's done 37 Fringes.

10:17 And this is just one of the most incredible festivals in the world

10:20 to come and see so many and learn from so many incredible different acts

10:23 from all over the place.

10:25 And Herbie said to me that I should start working nonverbal.

10:30 So now in my show, I don't speak.

10:32 The way I describe it, it's a bit like Mr. Bean with tricks, you know?

10:35 But what's really lovely about it is when I look up and look at my crowd,

10:39 everybody's there because I'm not taking the mickey out of anyone.

10:42 I'm not using a language that people don't understand.

10:45 So I get a really diverse audience, which is the really fun thing to do,

10:48 from little tiny kids all the way up to OAPs and stuff, you know?

10:51 So it's really fun.

10:53 My favourite, you know, the finale tricks, my favourite trick I've ever made

10:57 because the toothbrush going into carpets got a definite end, you know?

11:00 It's like a ball hitting the back of the net, you know?

11:02 So, yeah, it's really fun.

11:04 I've been to, yeah, lots of other festivals all over the country.

11:13 There's none, nothing quite like it.

11:15 We help each other out, and, you know, the other circus acts

11:18 that are in other places will be doing venues, and, you know, we're all,

11:21 "Oh, no, my juggling clubs are broken. Oh, someone, someone can borrow it.

11:24 "Oh, yeah, oh, my speaker didn't charge. Can I borrow someone?"

11:27 It's like, yeah, of course, you know, everyone's kind of like really there

11:30 to help each other, you know? So it's a really special month. It really is, yeah.

11:39 Scottish people are so friendly and welcoming, and being up here is amazing.

11:42 You know, there's not many councils that would be that supportive

11:46 and allow this to keep happening, so please, let's keep street art happening.

11:49 Let's keep it all going because, you know, without this, you know, yeah,

11:53 like, this is what life's all about, all coming together

11:55 and showing off everybody's differences and having a great time, you know?

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