Ed Fringe Survival Guide

Hello hello, it's been a while hasn't it? More on that later... but today's post is my personal survival guide of 5 top tips to survive EdFringe. Whether it's your first festival or 51st it can be a hugely overwhelming, wonderful, awful, confusing and inspiring experience and it can be all of this all at once. I saw a two tweets this week that inspired me to write this one asking why people bother going to fringe as punters or producers and one asking for tips on how to look after themselves at the festival. Both really made me think and hopefully those thoughts will make a fairly well rounded, fun and helpful blog post (well God loves a trier...)

So without further ado, here we go....

1. Don't forget the basics!

I know this is going to sound really patronising but please do not forget to eat, sleep, drink enough water and take some time to yourself. EdFringe is to me like uni on speed, there is always something going on, people to meet for coffee or cocktails, workshops, networking and you feel like if you miss one thing that could have been your change to make that connection, land that booking, etc etc etc. Let me tell you IT ISNT. There is so much going on at fringe that missing one thing won't create as much of an impact as you might think, but trying to do everything, not looking after yourself and burning out by week 2 will.

2. Buy in the basics

As a follow on from point 1, when you arrive before you get swept up by the magic/madness go to the shop get something easy and healthy in that can make you breakfast, snacks, lunches on the go, treats to pick you up, decent tea bags, the things that will make you feel settled and keep you going. This tip will (hopefully) also save you money as you won't be buying every meal out too!

3. Create plans in advance with your network!

The one thing that always lifts me up and keeps me sane at fringe every year is my amazing friends. Hands down only thing that stops me hopping the train straight back home. Making sure I have show dates, dinner plans, coffees in the park booked in with the people I love makes me feel so much more relaxed as I always know when the next time I can check in, wind down and laugh with the people that make me feel safe is. Something that should not be overrated!

4. Book your tickets!

One of my favourite parts of fringe is getting the fringe programme and circling the shows I really want to see, folding the corners down like Christmas is coming and Ive just got the new ARGOS catalogue (anyone else relate?). Knowing you have some killer shows that you're super hyped about booked in gives you some structure to your month as well as something to look forward to when things get a bit blue.

5. Manage your expectations

My last and probably most important tip is to manage your expectations. Whether you're taking a show, acting in one or just watching be realistic about what you want to achieve. As magical as Fringe is, it's very rare for shows to get picked up and become the next Six, while it does happen to some the chances of it happening to you are really low. I know that's tough to hear, but sadly we can't all be Phoebe Waller Bridge. You may not get bookings from going to Fringe, you may not get picked up by an agent, you may hate every show you see. So be prepared to be disappointed, but also be prepared to learn new things, find work you never expected to love, develop new audiences and be inspired by the amazing artists around you. ENJOY YOURSELF. But with this know why you're there, set goals but don't be too hard on yourself if you don't met it. Fringe is tough and just getting there and doing it, is an amazing achievement in itself.

My suggestion? Set yourself some small goals too! Maybe something like...

- Get some audience feedback we can use for press going forwards or to develop the piece

- Make 3 new connections I can reach out to after the festival

- See a show from a genre I've never experienced before

- Attend a networking event

Plant the seeds, you never know what will grow!

Anything I've missed? Let me know! I hope this helps some of you and most of all HAVE A GREAT FRINGE!