The Spiegel Garden

The 2014 version of the Spiegel Garden is here and… well, it just feels different this year. There’s part in St Andrews Square which is fantastic, full of live stages, Fringe venues, bars, fresh air and just good fun.
The part that’s in George Street? Feel cold. Clinical. Dare I say… corporate? I hung about here while looking up plans on the excellent Fringe mobile app, and I don’t think I heard laughter once. For a street bar in Edinburgh during the Fringe, that’s just weird.
It’s one of those places that seems to be there for either meeting people — everyone knows where it is — or to see and be seen there. Lots of people all togged up in their finest threads gently sipping whatever beverage they had in front of them.
Along in St Andrews Square, the joint was jumping; people laughing, joking, singing, dancing, playing with the rubber ducks in the temporary pond…
I can’t honestly say I’d go back to the George Street incarnation of the Spiegel Garden this year. It doesn’t grab me. I will, however, gravitate to the smaller St Andrews Square.

Ah the festival… when all of a sudden anywhere not taken up by tram roadworks becomes a bar.
Now while not quite as much fun as George Square Spiegel or whatever its called — this does make for a great meeting spot to have a few drinks in the middle of town. On Friday I ventured into the actual Spiegel tent and it was awesome — Rat pack tribute followed by what can only be described as some very weird goings on!!!
Aperol or whatever it is… bleurgh…avoid… but yeah great spot for an evening or just for a rest.

God this place believed its own hype. The less and less effort that’s gone into it over the years…
I remember George Square about 5 years ago, the sprawling Spiegel Tent taking up the majority of the space. Loads to see, loads to do, loads of places and stands to get a drink.
Now you queue amongst a swarm of George Street nonces. You queue for half an hour to be served. You queue half an hour for an over-​priced drink. And you come away to stand or sit amongst said nonces and overhear their inane George Street conversations.
Get it back to basics, guys… you’re overcooked!

The Spiegel Garden has moved from its beloved George Sq location to George St.
In the process, it has become about ¼ of its original size and has lost most (if not all) of it’s vintage charm.
Word on the street is that this is because the SG was causing subsidence in George Sq but I suspect it’s because the residents in the area got fed up with rowdy uni festivallers drinking up a storm every evening of the festival.
Whatever the reason, it’s a shame. It feels like the end of an era. I used to love sitting on the benches and even ground in the SG, clambering for a heat lamp, visiting one of the many foodie stalls serving up booze soaking grub. One year they even had big games like connect 4 and jenga! Good times. Good times not to be had in new, posher, older SG. The older thing isn’t bad, it’s just another aspect of the garden that is so different from how it used to be. And the drinks? What is this Aperol business and why is everyone drinking it?
No, new SG definitely not for me.