This photo, to me, encapsulates how I feel about the Royal Mile during the festival. It's the not knowing what's going to be there; it's the utter randomness of who or what you're going to see, it's the feeling that you can meet anyone up there. It feels like a kind of universal freshers week - lots of flyers being handed out to so many show you can't see them all; the almost music festivalness of anything can happen. Something that amused me greatly when I went to my first music festival were the people who'd wander around with a 'Free Hugs' sign - I'd never seen anything like it, and today was the first time I'd seen it on the 'mile.

On the flip-side, there's a lot of people who don't like the chaos (I'm glad I can avoid the crowds if I want to mostly, I don't need to suffer it every day unless I want to) - people who may disapprove of the hustle and bustle of the crowds - people who just don't want to be there. I'm not sure if the man in the back was frowning at the chap or me (with my pink and purple hair) or was just generally tired of wandering about. But mostly there's just a lot of people milling about wanting to see what's on offer - and several photographers, some of who are surely blippers!

I got a free hug before I left :)