This year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe will be the biggest yet, with nearly 4,400 shows, the 2017 programme reveals today.

It is also an historic moment for the festival, marking 70 years of its history as the most influential, and for many years, biggest festival of its kind in the world.

This year the Fringe will feature theatrical performances for the first time at Hibs Easter Road ground, a clutch of shows will be staged outside the city, while one opera will be staged in a toilet.

Indeed, next month will see its historic role marked by World Fringe Day, on July 11, a day when the birth of the Fringe in 1947 is marked around the world.

This year, the amount of shows in the programme is up 3.9%, to 3,398, with 300 venues listed, 2% up from last year.

There will be 53,232 performances in the festival, up nearly 6%, and artists from 62 countries are represented.

In a percentage breakdown of the programme, comedy is up 1% to 35% of the total, music is down to 14% from 15%, there is more theatre by 1% (28%) and there are 686 free shows, up nearly 7%, 215 'pay as you want' shows, up nearly a third, but 2.8% less premieres - 1,683.

This year’s programme features theatre, dance, circus, physical theatre, comedy, music, musicals, opera, cabaret and variety, children’s shows, free shows, exhibitions, events and spoken word.

The Syrian conflict and resulting refugee crisis have inspired several shows at the Fringe.

Your love is Fire is a play about daily life in the midst of the Syrian war, while Requiem for Aleppo brings together 12 dancers from across the world, with original music inspired by a combination of Requiem Mass lyrics, Arabic poetry and the voices of people from Aleppo telling their stories.

Trumpus Interruptus: The Impeachment of Donald J Trump is set in a fictional future where Trump is in political exile following a constitutional crisis.

Hasan Minhaj makes his Fringe debut following his recent speech at the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, which oversees the festival, said: "It’s an honour to be releasing the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme today.

"This is a very special year for the Fringe as we celebrate 70 years of defying the norm, of championing artistic freedom and providing a platform for artists around the world to come and present their work in a truly unique environment that is inclusive, inspiring, and often life-affirming.

"The fringe movement has circled the globe and inspired a worldwide network of over 200 sister fringes, with fringes now taking place on every continent except Antarctica. In the current climate of global uncertainty, fringes are more crucial than ever, continuing to provide artists with a space to express themselves without fear of censorship.

"The 2017 Fringe Programme reflects the principles that guide the fringe movement, it is diverse, topical, challenging and of course, exciting. I hope that as many people as possible will join us here in Edinburgh for the 70th anniversary edition of the Fringe, to witness and participate in this joyous international celebration of arts and culture."

Well-known names at this year's Fringe include Ruby Wax, for three nights, Charlotte Church, Sue Perkins, Sean Hughes, Robin Ince, Clive Anderson, and Dr Who actor Sylvester McCoy.

Dave Johns, star of I Daniel Blake returns to his comedy roots with a show about his unexpected turn as a film star at Pleasance, and BAFTA TV award-winning actress Monica Dolan has written and will perform in The B*easts, a solo show.

New Town Theatre presents an In Conversation With… series featuring actors, writers, artists, broadcasters and musicians including Val McDermid, Stuart Braithwaite, David Heyman, and John McDonnell MP, as well as, from the hit Netflix series Making a Murderer – A Conversation with Defence Attorney Jerry Buting.

Craig Ferguson, who last performed at the Fringe 24 years ago, before leaving Scotland to find fame in the US; he brings The Craig Ferguson Show to Gilded Balloon at Rose Street Theatre.

Irvine Welsh presents two new shows – Creatives and Performers.

Judy Murray and broadcaster Hazel Irvine will take part in the New Town Theatre’s In Conversation With…series, and Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss brings NOW to Venue150 at EICC.

There are some changes to the venues at the festival, with Hibernian Football Club is to be a venue for the first time, for Strange Town’s production of A Field of Our Own.

The Leith Volcano, formerly St James Church on Constitution Street, will be flooded for Volcano Theatre’s production of Chekhov’s The Seagull.

Army At the Fringe will see the Army Reserve Centre on East Claremont Street transformed into a venue, while Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre will feature four performance spaces in the in the old Charlotte Chapel on Rose Street.

Sweet Holyrood features three performance spaces in the Macdonald Holyrood Hotel while C royale is a new C venues hub on George Street, occupying the Royal Society of Edinburgh and presenting a mix of new writing, cabaret, circus and comedy.

SpaceUK also return to theSpace on North Bridge after a two year hiatus, while Venue150 at EICC expands in to the tunnel below the main venue where Trainspotting Live will take place.

The Fringe is also outside the city.

Two performances of Oceanallover’s dance piece Sea Hames will take place at Dalkeith Country Park, and The Brunton presents a programme of music and theatre including The Mikado at Musselburgh Race Course.

Alice Through The Looking Glass will be staged in the surrounds of Inveresk Lodge Garden, and Beyond Borders Festival Scotland brings a programme of debate, discussion, art and music to Traquair House in Innerleithen.

New free venues for 2017 include Black Market on Market Street which features six performance spaces in the former offices of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, while in the Grassmarket, 52 canoes will host shows in its basement lounge.

More unusual locations for Fringe shows this year include the Lochrin Belle boat which will host Scotch Egg Club Presents: Whisky on Water , a food and drink cruise along Edinburgh’s Union Canal.

Novotel Swimming Pool becomes a venue for 274 Theatre’s water-based production Brodsky Station and Chamber Pot Opera brings 'toilet based opera' to The Bathroom at Assembly Hall.

Fiona Hyslop, culture secretary, said: "The 70th anniversary edition of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme is as varied as ever and features artists from all over the world.

"Edinburgh’s festivals are now world renowned and it is remarkable to think the fringe movement that began here in 1947 has developed into a worldwide network of fringes.

"I am proud that Scotland is the home of fringe and has joined with others across the globe to celebrate the 70th anniversary and the ongoing success of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe."