Street Entertainers

Edinburgh City Centre, a vibrant mix of shops, bars, restaurants and cafes, peppered with museums, galleries, theatres and cinemas, a truly cosmopolitan atmosphere encompassing nationalities and cultures from across the globe. Almost as appealing, is the wonderful array of street entertainers who pop up in Princes Street and the Royal Mile - as well as no end of places in between - to amuse both locals and visitors alike. We pay a fortune to sit in relative comfort and take in the latest play, one of our many rising stars from the world of music, or the latest comedian to find himself a billboard success. But out on the streets a whole host of extremely talented performers can be found, braving the elements for the few pounds we deem acceptable to place in their hats. With only the pavement for a stage and an audience as varied as a box of liquorice allsorts, they are both professional and incredibly entertaining, and much deserving of a moment of our time.

So who can we expect to encounter on our travels around the city centre, who will be giving the very best of all they have to offer in an attempt to prise our hard-earned cash from our wallets and into their pots? Jugglers, fire-eaters, acrobats, clowns and contortionists bring a touch of the circus to the city streets. They are joined by singers, dancers and musicians of every genre, the air often alive to the sound of the guitar, the saxophone, the clarinet .... and on occasions  slightly more curiously bizarre instruments made of anything from bottles to the kitchen sink. Pop, opera, classical, weird, it's all there to be soaked up, enjoyed or spat out, depending on your own particular taste. But it is all incredibly entertaining, a lifestyle envied by many but perhaps sought by few.
Of course this being Scotland, there will inevitably be the strains of the bagpipe emanating from one corner of the city or another. Love them or hate them they are engrained in the life of this nation north of the border. I have to admit to an intense dislike of the bagpipes when I first encountered

Edinburgh life, likening their sound to that of mischievous cats seeking pleasures of the flesh - or should that be fur - after dark. But they are growing on me ..... Those playing them always look so smart in their national costume, even the young children who appear every now and then and handle their instruments like seasoned professionals. And there is definitely something hauntingly romantic about a lone piper playing on the Castle ramparts, echoing across the city as twilight falls. Should you be fortunate enough to visit the fair city of Edinburgh and you come across one of these street entertainers, give them a moment of your time. For many of them this is their life, so share a part of yours with these wonderful folk. You will be richly rewarded.