ONE of Edinburgh’s largest festival venues was undergoing urgent safety checks yesterday after it was evacuated for the second time in four days.
Audience members at the Gilded Balloon Teviot, in Bristo Square, were plunged into darkness on Tuesday night as wiring melted due to overloaded circuits. More than 2,000 people were forced to stand outside while the fire brigade investigated reports of smoke and burning.
It was a further blow to the Gilded Balloon, whose original venue in the Cowgate was completely destroyed in the Old Town fire last December.
This latest potential disaster was turned into triumph when performers continued their acts in the square outside. The crowd swelled to 3,000 spectators as 16 comedians, including Daniel Kitson, last year’s Perrier award winner, took part in the largest impromptu show ever seen at the Fringe.
Stephen K. Amos, whose stand-up show was interrupted by the evacuation, started off the open-air event by telling his 120-strong audience that he would continue his show outside. He said: “This is the best example of the spirit of the Fringe I have ever known. We started the gig and more and more performers came along. We lasted nearly two hours. The whole square was packed.”
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High-profile comedians such as John Oliver and David O’Doherty who heard about the crowds travelled from other venues to take part in the free show. Performers had to improvise to overcome the lack of equipment. Jason Bradbury impressed crowds by performing a section of his show Breakdance Therapy without the aid of a dance floor. He said: “I got a burn on my arm from the pavement but it was worth it for the reaction it got from the crowd.”
At the weekend Teviot House was evacuated when audience members and comedians, including Fred MacAulay, were shut out of the building because of an oversensitive smoke detector.
A spokesman for the Gilded Balloon praised performers and ticket holders who acted calmly during the emergency. “This is the real spirit of the Fringe,” he said. “It is the most exciting gig I have ever seen. We had an amazing showcase of talent.” Ticket holders will be refunded.
A fire brigade spokeswoman said: “We received a call shortly before 9pm last night reporting strong smells of smoke and burning at the Teviot building, which is part of the University of Edinburgh. Crews found overheated wiring and ScottishPower were called to help restore the supply.”
The building was reopened last night and performances continued inside.
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Brian Chisholm, head of enforcement for Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade, said that a number of venues suffered from poor wiring. “What happens quite a lot is that venues have the wrong type of fuse or a spotlight that is drawing too much power from a circuit,” he said.
Not all shows were suited to outdoor performance, however. Simon Morley, whose Puppetry of the Penis show had to be cancelled after the evacuation, said: “We were going to continue our performance outside but we thought we might be arrested.”