By Elizabeth Sturt, Development & Programming Coordinator

The Edinburgh Fringe is world renowned. People descend on Edinburgh every August whether they are in a show (63 countries were represented onstage at this year’s Fringe), work in many of the pop up venues or are an audience member. The city’s population doubles in size during the month. This year saw just under 4000 shows and 3,012,490 tickets issued. It is a busy time and as part of the Programming team for Trafalgar Studios, I get to join in on the madness.

We run round the city – seeing 4 or 5 shows a day – trying to find the next ‘hit of the Fringe’. This could be for a four or six week slot in Studio 2, where we hope to be a springboard for emerging talent and Producers, or to make connections with new companies to develop a show with.

Some great examples of work from the Fringe have been the Wardrobe Ensemble’s Education Education Education, which transferred to Studio 1 earlier this year after very successful Edinburgh runs and UK tours, The Fishermen which is currently showing in Studio 2 after the Fringe and UK Tour, and a young company called TRIP we are working with to develop a new musical project.

This year’s Fringe delivered again with some great highlights and discussions have already started with companies about their next steps and potential future life, whether it be a straight transfer or some development in mind.

We try to see a variety of voices but it is impossible to get round to all of the hits. We are always open to hear of any shows you may have seen or heard about. Do reach out and let us know what your hit of the Fringe was!