The Scottish capital Edinburgh is currently playing host to performers from around the world who are taking part in the 70th edition of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The world's biggest art festival began in 1947. It has now inspired a network of more than 200 similar events around the world.

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, noted that the Fringe began life as a slightly anarchic offshoot of a more conventional event. “The Fringe stated in 1947 on the back of the Edinburgh International Festival, which was a post-war mechanism using culture to reconnect a divided Europe. There were eight companies who wanted to be part of that festival, but were told their acts were not quite suitable. So the Fringe started as an act of defiance because those six companies decided that they were going to perform anyway. Thus began the very first Fringe Festival 70 years ago.” 

What makes the Fringe so special is that it still abides by its founding principle of open access. It means the festival has no curator or artistic director. And any artist who has a story to tell will be given the opportunity to do so.

This year's festival will feature some of the best in Chinese theater. As part of the China Focus program, seven award-winning Chinese productions will be staged in various venues across Edinburgh, to showcase traditional Chinese opera, dance, acrobatics, and shadow art, as well as modern jazz and pop music.

More than 3,300 shows will be staged across 300 venues in Edinburgh over the next three weeks.