By Aimée M. Petrin, Executive & Artistic Director

I recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. For those who do not know “the Fringe,” it is considered the world’s largest performing arts event with artists and audiences descending on the small coastal city in August for more than 4,000 performances across all genres and 300+ venues. The streets are full of performers, the parks of tents and food trucks, and anywhere you go there is a high feeling of revelry.

At one moment a giant parade appeared and I got to hear Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” performed on bagpipes and trombones.

In a mere four days I experienced 16 performances of various scale, styles and aesthetics, including artists we have coming this season such as Ndlovu Youth Choir, which wowed the audience with their artistry, energy and positivity; a couple of performances under consideration for 2027-28 (not giving anything away….yet!), and many that were brand-new to me. Highlights include Circa (whom Ovations presented in 2012) and their latest work “Wolf;” Salty Brine: How Strange It Is (The Neutral Milk Hotel Show), which took me back to my indie roots; “Right Before I Go,” a riveting staged reading about suicide featuring a TV favorite Wendie Mallick; and Border Bodies, a transfixing dance piece by Brazil’s T.F. Cia de Dança.

As the festival spans the entire city, I averaged 18,750 steps a day.

As the biggest art festival, I also connected with colleagues from around the world and met some new folks, including the executive director of a NYC-based arts incubation organization whose husband happens to be from … Saco. What a small world!

I did not partake in any haggis.

The entire trip started with a wonderful moment of serendipity. As I boarded the bus to Logan, I bumped into friend and colleague Jamie Grant who runs the Westbrook Performing Arts Center and is an invaluable member of the Local 114 stage union. As life would have it, we were both going to the Fringe (he was on a trip to Scotland for his wedding anniversary), we were on the same flight, same hotel, and same floor! Because it’s a small world after all.

It did not dawn on me until I was walking towards the castle, that it was exactly 30 years ago that I was last at the Fringe.

We look forward to sharing more from the Fringe as some of these performances travel from around the globe to here in Portland.