Fringe venue gets 11th-hour reprieve

Published on Monday 20 April 2009 22:08

ONE of the biggest venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been rescued at the 11th hour – weeks after the Australian impresario behind it pulled the plug.

A rival promoter is to take over the home of the Spiegel Garden this August following the surprise withdrawal of Fringe veteran David Bates.

Underbelly, one of the festival's "big four" promoters, will be bringing in one of the Spiegel Garden's venues from Australia after clinching a last-minute deal with Edinburgh University, which owns the site at George Square Gardens.

But it has agreed to scale back the site following protests from neighbours about the level of disruption from hundreds of people drinking in the venue's huge garden in previous years.

The new-look venue will have an "ornate Indian garden" theme, complete with pagoda tents, traditional furniture and oriental lanterns, and will have a new identity: Hullabaloo.

Underbelly yesterday vowed to make the venue more "family-friendly" than it had been in previous years.

The move marks another major expansion for Underbelly, which made its debut on the Fringe just ten years ago, in a derelict space below the Central Library, on George IV Bridge. Underbelly has made a huge success of its upside-down cow outdoor venue in nearby Bristo Square.

The Spiegel Garden has been one of the most popular venues at the Fringe since being created at the site by Mr Bates in 2003, in particular over the success of late-night cabaret show La Clique. Its main venue was an antique Belgian tent of mirrors, which Mr Bates had previously run next to the Scott Monument and on top of the Princes Mall shopping centre.

However, last year Mr Bates revealed he had almost been forced to ditch the venue because of complaints from local residents. It emerged last month he was pulling out of this year's Fringe, blaming the need to carry out "essential maintenance" on his main venue.

The site's capacity will fall from about 2,000 to just 700, while the indoor venue, the Bosco Theatre, a German-built venue dating back to 1909, which is returning to the garden, will hold just 200.

Among the shows confirmed for Hullabaloo are The Dirty Brothers Sideshow, one of the major hits of this year's Adelaide Fringe Festival, Luck, a hit one-woman show from last year's Dublin Fringe, renowned New York pianist Dennis Crow, and Mervyn Stutter's Pick of the Fringe.

Underbelly director Charlie Wood said this year's Fringe activities would be "significantly smaller" than in previous years, with the focus "fully on the programme".

He said: "We're very excited about being given the opportunity to run the site. We understand the love and affection the festival audience has for the Spiegel Garden.

"We believe we can offer a different, but nevertheless magical, George Square Gardens experience for the 2009 festival. Our ability to run outdoor events will stand us in excellent stead for the successful operation of George Square Gardens."

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh University said: "We are delighted to confirm that, although the Spiegeltent will not be returning this year, we have found an exciting alternative in Underbelly's Hullabaloo and we are confident Underbelly will operate the site well."