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It caters for everyone, from the biggest names in showbiz to the performers in the street and covers all sorts of art forms such as theatre, comedy, children’s shows, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and events. 

The story of the Fringe dates back to 1947, when eight theatre groups turned up uninvited to perform at the first Edinburgh International Festival - an initiative created to celebrate and enrich European cultural life in the wake of the Second World War. Not being part of the official International Festival programme didn’t stop these performers – they just went ahead and staged their own shows anyway. Year on year more and more performers followed their example and in 1959 the Festival Fringe Society was created in response to the success of this growing trend. Central to the society's constitution was the policy that there should be no artistic vetting from the society and this ethos continues to this day with a programme that’s consistently crammed full of the stories, reflections and experiences of artists, producers and companies from all over the world.

"The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is still the first choice for performers, producers, venues, artists and creators to come and tell their story; we are proud that the Fringe is still THE place to bring your work, with opportunities to amaze, enthral and excite audiences from both far away and close to home."  - Kath Mainland, EFF Chief Executive

This year's Festival Fringe runs from the 5 – 29 August and is bigger than ever before, with the programme featuring an estimated 21,192 performers taking part in 2,542 events across 258 venues. As usual the venues range from established institutions to the most unlikely of places, with some of the more alternative venues at Fringe 2011 including a train journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow, a city bus tour and even a performer’s bedroom!

Below is a brief run down of where to catch some of the best creative talent in this year’s programme. You can browse the full Fringe programme and buy tickets to any of the events by visiting the Edinburgh Fringe website.

Remarkable Arts – featuring 44 shows across the Hill Street Theatre and St George’s West, Remarkable Arts are also hosting eight shows from this year’s Made in Scotland programme - a showcase highlighting amazing work from Scottish artists at the Fringe.

Traverse Theatre – providing an essential platform for new theatre, the Traverse Theatre’s 2011 programme features more shows from the Made in Scotland programme as well as a diverse selection of the best new writing talent.

PBH Free Fringe – set-up in 1996 by comedian Peter Buckley Hill in response to performers losing money at the Fringe and complaints about high ticket prices, the PBH Free Fringe is free for both audiences and performers and is spread out at venues across the city.

C venues – the largest theatre & new writing programme at the Fringe.

Gilded Balloon @ Teviot – taking over the whole of Edinburgh University’s historic Teviot building Gilded Balloon present an annual showcase of theatre, comedy and cabaret.

BBC @ Potterrow – new for 2011 the BBC are hosting their entire Fringe programme under one roof in Edinburgh University’s Potterrow building.

Assembly – presenting a diverse programme of events across all genres from their new home in and around George Square Theatre. Their network of venues includes the world famous Spiegeltent.

The Stand – an Edinburgh comedy institution, The Stand has an extensive programme of comedy across 5 venues in 2011.

The Pleasance – run by the Pleasance Theatre Trust, their 2011 programme features family shows, comedy, cabaret, dance, music and theatre across 21 venues split between the Pleasance Courtyard and Pleasance Dome.

Underbelly – taking over a large section of Edinburgh’s Cowgate and responsible for the Udderbelly - a giant up-side-down cow venue in Bristo Square – the Underbelly programme contains comedy, children’s shows, cabaret and theatre.

The Edge Festival – providing a vibrant programme of music during the Fringe, acts this year include The National, The Vaccines, James Blake and many up and coming Scottish acts such as Admiral Fallow.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe receives Flexible funding investment from Creative Scotland.