Accommodation

Click here to go to Festival Flats

Click here to go to Edinburgh Festival Rentals

Click here to go to Factotum

Printing

Click here to go to Cocoa's guide to printing. (you gain a discount when you use them with our venue password)
Obviously we will have a look at your artwork before you send it to your preferred printers, make sure you have all the info you need on it and generally to see if you have the bleeds right etc.
Let us know if you need help on this.

Not sure how many flyers to have done or what size you should have - give us a call and we can help. But make sure you print on the back as well as the front - it costs hardly any extra and is a must.

It sounds daft but let us have a look at any other form of publicity you are doing (eg T-Shirts, CDs, flags on a stick) as we have been doing this for years and can offer / pointers

Random stuff

Click here to go to instruction manual source

Click here to go to where to buy your radio mic licenses from

Click here to go to cheap one way van hire (must be over 25)
one way costs £100 extra per trip so only worth while if doing whole festival
But remember there is no where to park in Edinburgh, unless you go miles out of the city
(there are some spaces on the North East side of Leith - but this is really far out)

Click here to go to cheap coach seats to Edinburgh

Click here to go to cheap flights Edinburgh. Airport is a few miles from city centre so use the Airlink 100 bus

Click here to go to Airlink 100 bus service - costs only £6 open return (use return within a year of purchase I believe!)
It also has a map of the bus changes due to the tram works. Buy a ticket on the day from just outside the airport terminal in a booth next to the 100 bus. Much much cheaper than a taxi

Click here to go to Lothian Buses. The bus service in Edinburgh. Costs £1.20 a journey (to anywhere! Amazing yes!)
The buses are clean, on-time, run all day and late into the night (they also have night buses).
Here is the bad news - you can't park a car in Edinburgh and taxis are expensive so use the bus - everyone in Edinburgh uses buses - they are nice. You can buy a weekly or monthly card and other discounts from the Lothian Bus shop opposite the venue.
Its so simple you wait for a bus at the many many stops (look up where you want to go on the easy to understand maps) when the bus arrives get on and put your £1.20 cash into the slot box thing by the driver and he then prints a ticket and you sit down and then get off where you want. If you want an all day ticket then you ask the driver and put £3 in the slot for a all day ticket.
(Does not go to the Airport so you need to get an Airlink 100 service)


Taxis in Edinburgh are very good. You just flag one down (the London Black Cab style) and get in and tell the driver where you want to go to. Some places have taxi ranks where you wait for a taxi to arrive . There is one just outside The Merchants' Hall down the road about 5 meters. Stand there and a taxi will see you and come to you. They are nice, clean and very friendly people.


Banks and Cash Machines. Next door to The Merchants' Hall is a bank with a cash machine. There is another cash machine opposite the venue. George Street - just up from the venue (20 meters) has possibly every High Street Bank on it. Scotland has its own bank notes so don't be alarmed if you get a weird looking £5 note.
When you leave Edinburgh try to get rid of all your Scottish bank notes as English people don't understand them and can refuse to accept them (your local bank can change them back to English ones)
Go onto your bank's website and look up the address of your bank's branch in Edinburgh before you come.


Groceries. There are a few large out of town superstores to buy your food, but as you've taken my advice and not taken your car to Edinburgh this can be a problem. So why not register online with one now and get them to deliver it to you. We use Tesco (cos they carry the stuff up the 3 flights of stairs for you!) but there are a variety of them. There is a nice Sainsbury's about 3 min walk from the venue, but it is not a superstore. They have an excellent salad / fruit / pasta bar which is very cheap.


Coffee There are many and I mean many Coffee shops around the venue. If you are doing an early morning tech or dress I have a latte with 6 sugars (if you do this I will be your best friend and help you loads!). Pret-a-manger are across the street


Internet and email There are lots of internet cafes around Edinburgh. Try Frederick Street for an Internet Cafe. You should find an open wireless internet portal in your flat if you are lucky. Remember to get a pop3 email account (your own one might not work away from your office or home broadband line). So why not go and register a gmail email account now and get your current email service to forward a copy of your emails to the gmail one now - its simple but go onto your email provider help site to give you instructions on forwarding email. (Just remember to NOT then get your gmail to send you a message to your normal email when it receives one or you'll send 10 million copies to each other and crash the email server you are on). Gmail can be used on Outlook and Outlook Express (gmail has an online help section which explains how to set this up)

Click here to go to the GMAIL website.
But remember once you get to Edinburgh to change your sending address to gmail or it might not send it!
Also tell us your gmail account address as your normal service may not forward emails to your gmail when in Edinburgh




Celebrity Trumps. This is THE game to play in Edinburgh and you can join in if you like. The rules are you spot a celebrity (not performing a show when you spot them) and you get a ranking based on the coolness of the celeb. The one with the most famous celebrity wins. However you can be trumped by either seeing Sean Connery (which is an auto win for that year) but if you manage to see Sean Connery arguing with an Edinburgh Taxi driver you are crowned Celebrity Trump King for all time.

Past notable celebrity winners have been Bill Bailey, Tom Hanks, Sean Connery (not arguing with a taxi driver), Ronnie Corbet, Phil Jupitus, Roy Walker, Billy Connely.

2011 winner was Rich Hall - who was flyered in the Royal Mile. It would have been Frank Skinner but he isn't funny and fails.

There are two an anti-trumps though - if you spot Alan Carr or Jimmy Carr you automatically are relegated to the 2nd division.

If you have found any of the above useful then please feel free to donate one Prett-a-manger latte (6 sugars) to me (Colin) at the Venue.

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