As the sun sets on what appears to be the last day of summer, the 2025 Edinburgh festival season is officially over. The Spiegeltents are being dismantled, posters are being removed, the city will be half a million people lighter tomorrow. The post-Fringe blues are going to set in alongside the bout of Fringe flu I've already contracted, but I had a fantastic festival where I tried to make the most of my current work-lite life.

I've documented all the shows I went to below, with a quick rating, so I don't forget. I went to 25 shows which sounds like quite a lot, but this is only 0.6% of what was available (and that's just the Fringe, not counting the International Festival, the Book Festival or the Film Festival! 🤯). 

You go to Fringe shows knowing that not everything will be a winner, but I didn't really encounter any howlers. I mainly waited for reviews to come out, but there were a few we picked on a whim which turned out to be fantastic – Rift at The Traverse (basically, anything at The Traverse will likely be excellent), Mark Thomas in Ordinary Decent Criminal at Summerhall (wow), Nerds: The Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs Comedy Musical and Ohio (😭).

The true standout for me was Hot Mess, which seems destined for West End cult classic status. See it if you can!

Ordinary Decent Criminal ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rift ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Macbeth (The Barden Party) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Make it Happen ⭐⭐⭐

Down to Chance ⭐⭐⭐ 

Atomic Tales ⭐⭐⭐

The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show ⭐⭐⭐

Hot Mess ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nerds: The Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs Comedy Musical ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ohio ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Footballers' Wives: The Musical ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Genesis ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mythos: Ragnarök ⭐⭐⭐

Tom Brace Saws Himself in Half ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Remarkable Ben Hart ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Police Cops: The Original ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Matt Forde: Defying Calamity ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hold On To Your Butts ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jessie Nixon: Don't Make Me Regret This ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Paul Merton and Suki Webster's Improv Show ⭐⭐⭐

DYKE Systems Ltd ⭐⭐⭐

Arthur Vinegar: Good Boy ⭐⭐⭐

The Political Party with Matt Forde ⭐⭐⭐

Cabaret of Terror ⭐ (this was Free Fringe on a lads night out. It was so bad, zero terror, but it gets one star for the comedy value when the burlesque dancer accidentally fell off her chair)