Care Home Puts Art And Soul Into Recreating Fringe For Residents

FUN-loving pensioners who were missing out after the world’s biggest arts festival was cancelled have been treated to a bespoke day of events instead.

Cramond Residence, Edinburgh’s most exclusive care home, hosted a Festival-Fringe-style celebration for its residents since the annual arts event was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The day-long ‘Cramond Fringe’ saw residents and staff enjoy a celebration of arts and entertainment, while abiding by social distancing rules. It included performances by magicians, jugglers, poets and singers.

Lisa Sohn, Lifestyle Co-ordinator at Cramond Residence, said: “This offered something different for our residents and it was wonderful way to bring everyone together safely.

“While nothing can make up for Edinburgh losing the Festival-Fringe this year because of the pandemic, we still had a brilliant day of entertainment and performances here. The residents absolutely loved it.”

The Cramond Fringe event was held in the residence’s dedicated cinema room – a sizeable, multi-purpose space which enabled strict social distancing. The residence also includes a library, hair salon, private, fine-dining space and a physiotherapy room.

Lisa added: “The fringe celebrations started with a ribbon cutting ceremony in the morning, followed by refreshments over a presentation on the history of the Festival and a Fringe trivia quiz for those more competitive residents.

“After lunch we started our afternoon of entertainment which included juggling, magic shows, skits, jokes, and a sing-song.  We tried to create the feeling of a variety of acts by switching the chairs around and creating different ‘stages’.

“Speaking with the residents after the event, they told us they’d loved it a really good time and would love for it to happen again – maybe we will need to make the Cramond Fringe an annual celebration due to popular demand.”