The cancellation of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe due to Covid-19 has left performers and critics grappling with the loss of a fixture that has shaped careers and lives for decades. For one comedy critic, the annual August pilgrimage had been a constant for 20 years, offering memories of meeting Flight of the Conchords, sharing stage time with Tim Minchin, and late-night conversations that defined the festival's magic.
The critic, who has reviewed and performed at the fringe since their teenage years, described the event as a rejuvenating force for the performing arts. 'I love the famous Edinburgh bubble, that seals us off for three weeks from the real world and makes us feel that theatre, comedy and what Richard Gadd just did in a cellar off the Cowgate are the only things worth caring about,' they said.
Comedians interviewed expressed deep concerns about the impact of the cancellation on their livelihoods and the industry's future. John Kearns, winner of Edinburgh's comedy award in 2014, noted that his income relies on creating and touring a fringe show. 'The heart is pulled out of my year,' he said. Amrou Al-Kadhi and Chloe Petts, who had planned solo debuts, fear missing out on career opportunities and worry about emerging queer artists and people of colour who rely on the fringe as a platform.
While digital alternatives such as Penguin Random House's audiobook Edinburgh Unlocked are being developed, performers agree that nothing can replicate the face-to-face intensity of the festival. Al-Kadhi highlighted the value of performing twice daily for a month, which hones their craft. The cancellation, as Kearns observed, feels inevitable given the impossibility of social distancing in fringe venues, but the void left by its absence is profound.
