The Insider's Guide to Budget Travel

What’s on in Edinburgh this August? What isn’t! The Scottish city really gets festive in August 2009, with a jam-packed line-up of events in Edinburgh. First up, there’s the Fringe, a celebration of up-and-coming music, drama, dance and comedy – the largest arts festival in the world and the number one tourist attraction in Britain. Then there’s the International Book Festival, the Jazz and Blues Festival, Foodies at the Fringe…the list of Edinburgh events is exhausting!

The August Festival season is the perfect time to visit the city, but it can be hard to find affordable hotel accommodation in the city center. Luckily there are plenty of hostels in Edinburgh close to all the action along the Royal Mile. Not just for cash-strapped backpackers, hostels are ideal for the festival season, with a sociable atmosphere, central locations and a lively social calendar (some hostels even organise Fringe pub crawls or competitions for show tickets).

If you’re heading to the Fringe this year, check out these tips for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and our video on doing the Fringe on a Budget:

To make your budget stretch even further, why not check out some of the top free events in Edinburgh? There are even more free events on at the Edinburgh Festival 2009 than ever before. Here’s a guide to the top five free festivals:

1. Free Fringe Festival

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2009 looks set to be one of the best yet, but why pay for an Edinburgh comedy festival when you can catch the Free Fringe instead? Running from the 7th-31st August, the Free Fringe Festival showcases a staggering 465 free performances in 19 venues across the city. This year the laughter is split between Peter Buckley Hill’s Free Fringe Comedy (with shows in several bars across the city) and the Laughing Horse’s Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival (a bigger affair with 158 shows covering everything from cabaret to live music). Our top picks for this year include the Amazing Adventure Stories of Todd Womack at the Rowan Caves, Robin Ince’s ‘Carl Sagan Is My God, Oh and Richard Feynman Too’ at the Canon’s Gait, and Fred MacAulay’s MacAuley and Co at Venue 150.

2. International Book Festival

The biggest literary festival in the world, the Edinburgh International Book festival has a wide range of free events for adults and children, with readings, writing workshops and book signings with top authors. The International Book Festival runs from the 15-31st August 2009, and free events can book up far in advance, so check out the book festival program for 2009 online. This year, the top free events for adults include The Amnesty International ‘Imprisoned Writer’s Series, Pepper’s Theatre (tickets available on the day of the event), daily free readings given by writers facing persecution for their thoughts and words. The Ten at Ten in the Writer’s Retreat (book in advance) is a perfect literary start to the morning, with a different story or poem read every day. Round off the day for free with Spiegelbar, a relaxing performance of live music in in a traveling ballroom in Highland Park (no booking needed). There’s also heaps of free activities for kids – from daily Story Time at 3.00pm in the Imagination Lab for 3-10 year-olds, (and Rhymetime for under-3s at 10am) to Make a Bookmark in the Workshop Tent, with artist Linda McCann (15th August, 10am).

3. Festival Calvacade

The Edinburgh Festival Calvacade is a free parade of performers from all the Edinburgh festivals. The huge procession includes 150 moterbikes, the entire cast of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and over 3,000 participants from the various festival shows. The Festival Calvacade 2009 will take place on Sunday 9th August at 2pm, and run along Holyrood Park, kicking off at Queens’s Drive. Other family-friendly events are planned after the Festival Calvacade, in the Parade Ground between 12-4pm.

4. Mela Festival

Set up by a group of ethnic minorities in Edinburgh, The Edinburgh Mela Festival is a celebration of cultural diversity in Scotland. The Edinburgh Mela Festival 2009 will take place from the 7-9th August at Pilrig Park, giving the festival a laid-back vibe, with food stalls and a craft market alongside the main events. Mela means ‘gathering’ in Sanskrit, and whilst it isn’t completely free (all day passes are £2, but single events and children under-12 are free), it’s fantastic value for money. The Edinburgh Mela 2009 has a line-up of theatre, music, film, visual art, from around the world, from Zimbabwean Theatre to Bollywood Dance. Our must-see events for the Edinburgh Mela 2009? The Multi-Cultural Fashion Show on Sunday, at 12:30pm and Indian Idol Anshul Tomer’s concert on Saturday 8th August.

5. Edinburgh Interactive Festival

Budding gamers will love the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival, an interactive festival devoted entirely to video games. The Edinburgh Interactive Festival 2009 will once again host a free gaming area, allowing the public to try out the latest games from Thursday 13th-14th August . The program also includes a conference with panel sessions with expert gamers, debates and games screenings. Head to Gamestation stores in Scotland, and you can score free screening tickets for titles that haven’t even been released yet. The Interactive Festival 2009 even has a recruitment area, where people can learn about how to get into the video game industry, and even find a job.

Heading to the Edinburgh Festival 2009? Fancy Writing for us? Send us your festival reviews and we’ll publish them on the blog!

Images – Thanks to Adam, Rain Rabbit, and dnqa.