Visitors to this year’s Edinburgh International Festival won’t miss a single minute of their favourite shows thanks to the city’s trams.
Services will run through the night each Saturday of the festival (August 3 - 28), meaning visitors can enjoy the entertainment safe in the knowledge they can still reach their accommodation with ease.
Festival-goers will be able to enjoy the last drum of the Tattoo, the final encore of a much-loved singer or the final act of a late-night play without the hassle and expense of booking a taxi.
Trams will run from every half hour and journeys will continue to serve all stops, including Ingliston Park and Ride, which is just a short walk from the festival campsite.
The all night trams will run at no extra cost to customers - normal ticket prices will apply. Offering great value, all single and return tickets are valid until 5.30am the following day and priced at £3.20 return and £1.70 single in the City Zone, which cover all stops except Edinburgh Airport. DAY&NIGHTtickets and Network DAYtickets are also valid on night trams.
The festival features more than 50,000 performances across scores of venues in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators. By taking the tram visitors can avoid busy roads and the worry of finding a parking space.
Lea Harrison, Edinburgh Trams Managing Director, explains:
“We decided to run the night trams last year after hearing from customers who wanted an easy way to get home or back to their hotel after the late-night events that have become such a feature of the festival.
“Thousands of festival fans took advantage of the additional services with customer numbers significantly higher than during the same period the previous year. It is clearly a popular idea and reflects our commitment to first class customer service.”
The Edinburgh International Festival features a huge variety of cabaret and variety, children’s shows, comedy, dance, circus, theatre, exhibitions, music, musicals, opera, and spoken word events, with 1,937 premieres.
Among the many hundreds of performers flocking to the Scottish capital this August is newly-crowned Britain’s Got Talent winner Lost Voice Guy, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, as well as singers Tom Jones, Jason Donovan and Suzanne Vega.
Esther Rantzen takes to the stage with her daughter, journalist Rebecca Wilcox, to discuss highlights of her 50 years in showbusiness, while Maureen Lipman returns to the Festival Fringe for the first time in 50 years to share stories from her film, theatre and TV career. Stars of the future, meanwhile, can be seen at every turn.
Mr Harrison added:
“The excitement is already building in the city. The tram will take centre stage when it comes to transporting festival goers around the city and we’re sure the return of all-night trams will prove a huge hit!”