Festival off to colourful start

A colourful parade kicked off the festival

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which promises some of the best and most off-beat shows in the world, got under way on Sunday.

Its director said there were hundreds of entertaining events, but that more money was vital if the festival was to keep its world-renowned reputation.

The action started with the traditional Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade.

More than 170,000 spectators were thought to be watching the 3,000-strong procession on Sunday afternoon.

Festival Stats There will be 1,700 shows in the festival. There will be 25,000 performances in all during the three weeks More than 3,000 people take part in the Cavalcade 100,000 tickets have been sold so far on the internet Pick of the Fringe

The procession kicked off at 1430 BST in Cockburn Street and ended an hour and a half later at Johnston Terrace.

Fringe director, Paul Gudgin, told BBC News that more money was needed to ensure Edinburgh did not get overtaken by other UK city festivals.

He said: "In the longer term, we are going to need more investment, especially in areas such as accommodation and transport.

"That is not something that we as a festival can do on our own and so we really need the support of the Scottish Executive and all the major tourism and government agencies."

The 58th festival features performances and shows from right across the arts spectrum, with more than a million tickets expected to be sold.

The famous and the newcomers will be providing entertainment at 236 venues.

These include some unusual sites in which to see shows, including an Indian restaurant, a Maserati sports car and a lift.

Pipers marched their way along Princes Street

Among this year's most publicised shows is Jeffrey Archer's Prison Diary Hell - a stage adaptation of the disgraced Tory peer's diary from his time in Belmarsh Prison.

Hollywood star Christian Slater has been forced to delay his British stage debut with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, at the Assembly Rooms.

The all-star stage adaptation of Ken Kesey's seminal novel had to be postponed after Slater caught chicken pox.

The Fringe will also feature a political satire called Guantanamo Baywatch.

One of the most controversial acts of the season is the final UK performance of XXX by Spanish act La Fura del Baus, described as the most sexually explicit show ever staged in the UK.

Cartoon hero

Seasoned comic performers this year include Rob Brydon, Jenny Eclair, Paul Merton and the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright.

Brydon, the star of cult BBC Two show Marion & Geoff, reprises his role in The Keith Barret Show as the hapless chauffeur turned relationship expert in a new live show at The Pleasance.

Cartwright brings her one-woman show - called My Life As A Ten-Year-Old Boy - about the trials of life as the voice of dysfunctional cartoon hero Bart, to the Assembly Rooms.

A Fringe spokesman said: "It is just nice for everything to come together - for us to get a chance to meet the performers and put faces to names.

"We work on it for so long that it is great to see the real energy that the festival brings. That's what it's all about, really."

The festival runs until 30 August.