The Edinburgh Fringe began in 1947 as an unofficial offshoot and is now the world's largest arts festival

arts, ideas & societyWikipedia1947 · Edinburgh, Scotland

The Edinburgh Fringe began in 1947 as an unofficial offshoot and is now the world's largest arts festival

the gist

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performing arts festival, held every August in Edinburgh. It started in 1947 as an unofficial offshoot of the Edinburgh International Festival, and it gave the term fringe theatre its name. It is unjuried, meaning there is no selection committee and anyone can stage any kind of performance. In 2025 it ran for 25 days, with 3,893 shows across 301 venues and more than 2.6 million tickets sold. Comedy is the largest section, making up over a third of the programme, and it has the highest public profile, partly because of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Performers come from 68 countries.

so what

The Fringe's open-access model means a total unknown can perform alongside established names, which is how many well-known comedians and playwrights got their start. It has become one of the biggest ticketed cultural events in the world.

fun fact

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, whose show Fleabag was performed at the Fringe in 2013 before becoming a TV series, was named the Fringe's first President in 2021.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

historyWikipediaclassic1336–1565 · Karnataka, India

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗