Spiegel Garden, George Square

Category

Library Item

Item no

11918

Title

Spiegel Garden, George Square, during the Edinburgh Festival

Description

Within the Spiegel Garden, a bar and venue at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, is a long painted bar with beer pumps. Flowers, butterflies and the faces of women are painter on the bar. Behind the bar is a bartender and optics for spirits. In the seated area there are tables and chairs.

Artist / maker

Ansell, Andrew J L

Date

2007

Size

19.7 x 26.4 cm

Type

Digital image

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The 'Famous Spiegeltent' is a mobile entertainment venue constructed of wood and canvas with a lavish interior decorated with mirrors and stained glass. It is one of only a few surviving spiegeltents, and was built in Belgium in 1920. It has been used as a venue in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 1996. The area surrounding the 'Famous Spiegeltent' in George Square Gardens is known as the Spiegel Garden.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has its roots in the attendance of eight uninvited theatre groups at the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. This unofficial adjunct to the festival grew in both size and organisation throughout the 1950's with more and more performers coming to take advantage of the audiences drawn to the capital by the official events. By the end of the decade a well organised Festival Fringe Society had been established with a constitution, brochure, and central ticket sales. Today 'The Fringe' hosts several hundred productions each year, and ticket sales have exceeded 1.6 million.

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Related subjects

Events > Festivals > Fringe Festival

Furnishings > Furniture > Chairs

Furnishings > Furniture > Tables

People > Commercial activities > Bartenders

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Sport and leisure > Eating and drinking facilities > Restaurants and bars

Sport and leisure > Sports and recreation facilities > Festival venues

Read how our collections have inspired people taking part in events, visits and community groups. Use the slider or navigation arrows to see more responses.