Over the course of August, thousands of Edinburgh Fringe performers flood into the city from all over the world, with many spending the entire month in the capital.
Working tirelessly to perform for both locals and tourists, performers will often do long runs of their shows, as well as flyer, advertise and enjoy some acts themselves. However, despite their schedule already seeming pretty hectic, we caught up with some of the performers balancing a run at the Fringe with their kids in tow.
Bringing their youngsters along to the festival with them, Jeroen Van Der Ven shared how his eight-year-old daughter has attended every one of his shows since it launched this summer. With both Jeroen and his wife, Vanja, taking part in the stage show 'Boy' at Summerhall, the actor said it had been an incredible family experience.
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He said: "It’s nice to able to share our professional world with our child. It also helps for us as parents to not to get too caught in the work and everything around it.
"As soon as you walk off the stage, you are a father again, a mother. The down part is maybe that we didn’t get to see a lot of other shows or go out a lot in the evenings.
"Our daughter really enjoyed it. She also liked living together with the whole crew. It became kind of an extension of our family."
Another parent managing the festival alongside being a mum is Lea Whitcher, who has been debuting her one-woman show 'Mama Love' at the festival.
Bringing her husband and two-year-old son to the city with her, Lea told Edinburgh Live that although everyone has been "so friendly", juggling the two has been a struggle at times.
She said: "Everyone is so friendly and welcoming towards families and kids, we really love the vibe of this city. A high was certainly the bike shop we went to, the owner organised a bike with a children's seat and helmet for us and now my partner and my son can ride around town.
"Our child really likes to travel and loves a party. He's being a really good sport about everything. He now loves haggis and ramen, so he fits in perfectly. But I won't lie, things are not easy-peasy. We have no day care and no network of friends and grandparents like we do at home.
"Being a parent to a young child is the equivalent of 2.5 full time jobs and so is performing in a show at the fringe! So between the two of us we are juggling five jobs. I'm just so lucky that my partner Florian Butsch is not only a incredibly talented performer, but also an very talented parent, and just so much better at multitasking."
However, encouraging other parents to take the plunge next year, Lea offered some advice to those who may be bringing their children for the first time.
She added: "If you're working at the fringe, if you can somehow find a way: Bring one or two friends along for the ride, maybe even with their own kids, and take turns.
"Gang up with other parents at the fringe. Try to be open and talk to other families. Also check out the local libraries, they are amazing. Singing groups and tons of great books, and all of it for free! We will be very sad to leave this lovely city, but very glad to have day care again."
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