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Doon Leith

9 Jul 2026

Coming to Edinburgh for the Fringe and not making at least one trip Doon Leith is like eating chips here without the salt 'n' sauce. There is a whole Fringe experience down here and it has its home in fascinating, quirky, quality bars and eateries where you can get history with your comedy and genuine local flavour with your drama.

​Coming to Edinburgh for the Fringe and not making at least one trip Doon Leith is like eating chips here without the salt'n'sauce.

Leith is a great part of Edinburgh; once its port and docks (and all that comes with that!), now a cultural and creative hub. I would offer a money-back guarantee with your show-going, but as many of the most interesting venues are on the Free Fringe, that would be disingenuous … although …

Comedy fans are spoilt for choice, of course, as are craft beer aficionados and malt whisky enthusiasts.

Even those who are happy to take their pizza for a walk on the wild side can enjoy the Braveheart (pizza with a haggis and Stornoway Black Pudding topping) along with their (free) entertainment at Pizza Geeks on Easter Road. Said entertainment encompasses a score of shows, all of which are by performers making their Fringe debut, and includes arguably the sweetest title on the Fringe: Adorable Comedians Performing Funny Poetry and Telling Lovely Stories.

Also on Easter Road, the fabulously refurbished Hibs' Supporters Club is home, during the Fringe, to the award-winning Saltire Sky Theatre (of 1902 fame) with Athens of the North and MANikin. Both productions trail clouds of accolades and neither is available to book on the main Fringe website, so remember to get them directly from the venue.

If you get the tram down Leith Walk, and you definitely should get the tram down Leith Walk, before you get very far you will find the Central Youth Hostel. This is your ideal venue should you be looking to find something to delight the (much) younger Fringe-goer and there is an entire morning of fun here, including being bombed with teddy bears and joining an Easter Egg Hunt with Mrs Claus. There is even an actual interactive show for actual babies. To be honest, it sounds kind of son et lumière and quite cool and sexy … does that sound creepy? But be sure to clear the toddlers out before 13.15 when the space is home to The Samurai Sword Experience. Also interactive.

Most of the Leith venues are not much more than spitting distance from each other, but while spitting might once have been allowed in the bad old days, Leith is much more genteel now and body fluids are best kept to yourself.

In The Carriers' Quarters, which claims to be the oldest unaltered pub in Leith (dating back to 1785, although CAMRA disagrees, so go along and see what you think), you can watch comedy from noon till midnight, while, not far away, in Diggers there is an eclectic programme that goes from the engaging-sounding Moment of Connection With A Smile, via 'experimental Butoh' to home-grown, late-night 'fun, frolics and flirtatious fabulousness'.

The 3 Old Monks, down in the thick of things on Commercial Street, hosts some pretty kick-ass comics from New York amongst other funny stuff and, just an interesting stroll away, The Bowlers Rest is your music venue for August. So do not be packing your acrylics and heatproof gloves, because, although there ARE workshop-y and 'how to' type creative events in the area, Beginners Ceramics at the Bowlers Rest are a heavily Flaubert-influenced indie chamber-pop band from London. No, seriously.

Of course the Leith Arches and Depot have events and theatre (Ships, at The Arches, sounds particularly wither-wringing and very 'Fringe') and, as I may have mentioned, the real star of any trip Doon Leith is Leith itself. But the sheer abundance, imagination and (probable) quality of what is on offer down there is a huge shot in the arm (no, that is not a snide dig at Leith's history and reputation) for this jaded old Fringe-goer who had almost given up on Edinburgh in August.

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