Fountain Brewery to become Edinburgh Fringe hub

The former brewery site in Edinburgh's west end will be a Fringe venue this year. Picture: submitted

Now the site of the former Fountain Brewery is set to become home to festival-goers after it was confirmed as a major Fringe venue for this summer.

A spaceship-shaped circus tent will be installed on the currently-derelict site on the banks of the Union Canal at Fountainbridge.

And the venue will play host to a spectacular acrobatics show currently drawing huge crowds at the Roundhouse Theatre in London.

The area in question, currently an ugly gap site, was recently touted by the city council - which owns the land - as a potential home for a new cultural hub for Edinburgh.

It is adjacent to a former rubber factory which is due to be converted to provide a new home for the Edinburgh Printmakers arts organisation.

A temporary lease is expected to be agreed with the local authority for the circus show, which will run from 2-26 August. The NoFit State Circus’s production, Bianco, will be part of this year’s official British Council showcase during the Fringe.

It was originally staged by the Cardiff-based company at the Eden Project, in Cornwall last year. Described as “an immersive promenade experience”, it will takes place above, behind and all around a standing audience.

It will be the first major Fringe production to be staged at the former Fountain Brewery, which had been bought up by Halifax Bank of Scotland at the height of the property market for a new headquarters building.

The council bought the land from the bank for a new high school, although a large swathe of the site is surplus to requirements and has been put forward by officials as one of four possible new cultural hubs in the city centre.

The famous McEwan’s plant was opened in 1856 by the founder of the brewing empire, William McEwan, and it was still in production until it was closed by final owners Scottish and Newcastle in 2004.

A spokeswoman for the NoFit State Circus said: “Bianco is a return to the company’s roots and iconic immersive, promenade work - an all consuming theatrical experience combining intoxicating live music, gravity defying circus and stunning costume design in a constantly evolving environment.

“It brings together the best UK and worldwide performers with a broad range of circus skills: swinging trapeze, aerial straps and rope,dance trapeze, trampoline, juggling, hand-balance and acrobatics. Jaw-dropping technique and high-energy theatricality make Bianco one of this year’s most awaited circus performances.”

Steve Cardownie, the city council’s festivals and events champion, said: “The plans for this site are yet to be finalised, but taking the Fringe to a different part of the city is an exciting prospect. Re-animating the Fountainbridge site would provide a welcome boost to the local economy.”