Edinburgh. Stop a minute, just stop. Stop moaning about the buses, and how you have to wait in the rain, or how the trams aren't finished, or how the nights are getting shorter and Scotland is so cold.\n\nDo you know how lucky you are? I mean, seriously. Every year, without fail, you are guaranteed to have the world's largest arts and comedy festival. The population of the city will double in size, literally, to around a million. You will develop pavement rage. All your favourite locals will be rammed. \n\nFor some, yes, the crowds and hustle and bustle are too much. But just STOP and realise how lucky you are. I don't know how the team who manage the Fringe do it. All of the Old Town turns into one giant epic venue with 100s of smaller venues. Pop-up bars (Udderbelly, Spiegel Gardens, Underbelly, The Gilded Balloon), 1000s of acts, 10s of 1000s of tickets, every bar opens till 3am, every club till 5am, caf\u00e9s that normally shut at 5pm shut at 10pm. Stores run out of caffeine pills and berocca. The Council must go into over-drive with cleaning (I mean, this city was kept CLEAN during all the plastic cups and drunk folk eating hot dogs at 3am.)\n\nYou have a giant festival on your door step! Travellers spend \u00a31000s on accomodation and travel to get here. You have a carnivale atmosphere all month round. No matter what time of day, or what day it is, that you leave - you always feel like you're leaving the party early.\n\nThe atmosphere and sustained energy & momentum is unmatched. I really don't know how the performers, the Festival folk, the flyerers, the biz owners, the Fringe staff...how they do it. But I love it. As Peter Y says, you could spend the whole month being entertained and still not be done. You could spend every last penny, or you could spend none as there are plenty free shows.\n\nStop trying to live a normal 9 - 5 existence for one month. Accept that you'll get less sleep, spend more, drink more. But you'll make more friends, see more, experience more than you might in the whole year. \n\nEdinburgh, each year one of the biggest, longest parties in the world comes to YOU. Don't waste the opportunity. Go, enjoy, make your own stories. Enjoy.