The Edinburgh Fringe is the world's biggest arts festival, where performers showcase their talents, hone their craft, and try to make back the money it costs to go there in the first place.
It's always worth examining the shows and trends as they tend to be a good indicator of who will command each art form in the future.
Audiences can enjoy a selection of over 3,000 shows as street corners, pub backrooms, and even garden sheds are transformed into venues.
After a massively reduced line-up in 2021 during the pandemic, this year has seen the most magic shows since the government lifted COVID restrictions.
Over 70 magic shows were listed in this year's program, with roughly 50 shows in 2022 and 2023. This trend suggests that magic is growing to become a staple genre of the festival!
Okay, sure, in the grand scheme of things, 70 out of 3,000 shows seems small. Famously, the Fringe primarily consists of comedians. But after spending 48 hours there this year, I couldn't walk down the Royal Mile without a flyer being thrust upon me as someone said, "Straight from Penn & Teller: Fool Us!" or a bus whizzing past me with a giant image of Arturo Brachetti.
