The Edinburgh Festival officially starts on the first Sunday of August (a week today), but you wouldn't believe it based on the number of people milling around the city centre and the various pieces of artwork and advertising that seem to have appeared over night. Personally I'm in two minds about the festival, a part of me (the prominent part at the moment) is incredibly excited about how much will be happening over the next few weeks, the shows, the people, the late licenses (clubs are open till 5am), the celebrity spotting...
On the other hand is the part of me that I suspect will rear it's ugly head over the next few weeks. The part of me that is aware of the fact the city's population literally doubles for a month of the year, the part that recognises the significant rise in crime, the part that wants to hit people on the back of the head because they suddenly stop walking along Princes St to stare at the castle (some of us have places to go!)
So, in the hope it will keep me from pushing any particularly annoying tourists in front of a bus, I'm gonna try and see it from their point of view. I'm going to introduce you all to the Edinburgh Festival, and pretend to be a tourist.
Unfortunately, not much has started yet, but to kick everything off I have a couple of photos I have taken around the town in the past week.

I spotted this new piece of art last week on Cockburn Street, unfortunately it only lasted three days before the council removed it so I am so glad I managed to see it before it disappeared. Slightly worryingly I think the model looks slightly like one of my ex-boyfriends... This isn't the first piece of guerilla art we have had in the city this year, but it is one of the most impressive.
And, not quite guerilla art, but maybe guerilla advertising, I could not resist grabbing this photo on the mound earlier in the week. Every year the council claims it is going to reduce the number of posters and flyers found around the city, and every year they fail.

I'll be taking more photos over the next few weeks of the city at its height and showing you some of my favourite spots and events over the next month.
I hope you are all having wonderful weekends, I'm off to spend the day pretending we aren't celebrating a friend's birthday - fun!
- Sunday, July 31, 2011
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