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It's two years since I last went to the Edinburgh Festival so I think I can risk writing another blog about it and in fact, comparable observations are interesting. I came home just after the last day of the Fringe and the announcement that it had broken records for the third year running, 2% up on 2010, selling 1.8mill tickets. And all that in spite of awful weather, the inevitable recession and the closure of some key venues, including my favourite Assembly Rooms on George Street. Of all of the shows I saw, the one that was most special for me was Sriyah, a programme of abstract dance by the Indian Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, accompanied by four brilliant musicians. The exquisite performances were beautiful, dreamy and sensuous. The contrast with the show I saw immediately afterwards, as you do in Edinburgh, could not have been greater - Rock the Ballet from New York, which was loud, fast and sexy - imagine 'ballet meets the Chippendales' - it was a blast.
The best exhibition for me was the Tony Cragg retrospective at the National Gallery of Modern Art. I remember the small Tony Cragg exhibition we held on the River Terrace at Somerset House a few years ago and I confess to not being too impressed but this time around, his work took my breath away. On until 6 November - catch it while you can.
And I can't not comment today on the fiasco of the Edinburgh tram, especially as I was so shocked by the resultant roadworks during my last visit in 2009. The disruption to transport, trade and business has been absolutely dire. The whole visionary project was due to be completed for next year and yet on the day I arrived, the City Council had just voted to cut its losses by spending a total of only £700mill on a route from Edinburgh Airport to Haymarket, rather than spending another £76mill to take the line as far as originally planned, to St Andrew's Square. Now I'm hardly a frequent visitor to Edinburgh but even I can see that this decision is a cop-out - either cancel the project altogether or complete the route into the centre. Apparently the phrase "getting off at the Haymarket" is a euphemism in Edinburgh for coitus interruptus - you couldn't make it up !
Post Script
since writing this blog, I note that Edinburgh Council has been forced to reverse it's decision on tram extension so that it will now 'go all the way' - hurray!
