IT is world’s single biggest celebration of the arts that for three weeks during the summer, transforms Edinburgh into a cultural cornucopia and a magnet for millions.

So batten down the hatches as today marks the start of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019.

It’s really that time of year again?

Yes, it’s rolled around.

This year’s fringe runs from today till August 26, meaning the streets of Edinburgh will be even busier than usual for the next three weeks.

How many shows are there this year?

This year's event is once again even larger in size and scale than the previous year - the 2019  programme includes 3,841 shows, up from 3,548 in 2018, and 59,600 performances, up from 56,796.

The programme has a record 63 countries represented, and more than 700 free shows, with more than 400 "pay what you want" shows. There are also 963 Scottish shows, with 744 produced from Edinburgh.

What are the highlights?

It’s hard to boil down so many shows to a few recommendations.

Give it a go…

Well, so far, among the most talked about gigs is the return of Tony Slattery. Now 59, the comic, who was a regular on Channel 4’s Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is back on stage after battling bipolar disorder and a cocaine addiction that at its height, was costing him around £4,000 a week. He will appear in Whose Line Is It Anyway? at the Underbelly and also in a solo show, Slattery Will Get You Nowhere, at The Stand.

Any others?

Veteran comic Frank Skinner is gigging at the Assembly George Square, marking his return to the Fringe after five years away.

And Ruby Wax is back at the Pleasance with a new one-woman show, How To Be Human, which is billed as answering “every question you've ever had about evolution, thoughts, emotions, the body, addictions, relationships, sex, kids, the future and compassion”.

Might be worth finding out that answers to all of that then.

I’ll be there for you?

Sort of. There’s a musical based on the TV show Friends - Friendsical - at the Assembly Rooms, which features songs such as “Richard’s Moustache” and “He’s Her Lobster”. 

Any other shows of note?

Lost Voice Guy, who won last year's Britain's Got Talent, is at the Gilded Balloon, while Scots-born US TV host and comic, Craig Ferguson, is set to perform his first UK stand-up show for 25 years in a one-off at the Playhouse, called Hobo Fabulous.

And Glasgow-born Daniel Portman, who played Podrick in Game of Thrones, is likely to be a hot ticket as he is starring in a play called Square Go at Summerhall.

How did the Fringe begin?

Back in 1947 when eight theatre groups turned up uninvited to perform at the (then newly formed) Edinburgh International Festival, an initiative created to celebrate and enrich European cultural life in the wake of the Second World War.

How many tickets are sold now?

Last year, the Fringe issued 2.8 million tickets, a record, five per cent higher than 2017, and is on course to sell or distribute 3 million tickets this year.

What’s the impact on Edinburgh?

The pros and cons of the massive influx of visitors and the effect this has on the Capital and its infrastructure is hotly debated by residents and businesses, but Fiona Hyslop, the Culture Secretary, described it is an "economic powerhouse, generating £144 million for the Edinburgh economy and £173m for Scotland's economy.”

Where can I get tickets?

For further information and tickets, visit tickets.edfringe.com