Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

Standing outside the Usher Hall, where two men were attempting to hide the building works with a pile of posters on a handful of hoardings, it struck me that the International Festival audience have to approach their concerts as if it is the Fringe.

Few venues are theatres or concert halls beyond the time of the Fringe - most revert to more mundane activity at the end of August.

Toilets and bars and box offices are all brought in specially - and few have the luxury touches of the Usher Hall

frontage, with its fake grass and marquee with chandelier.

Admittedly the tickets cost a bit more at the Usher Hall - although not much, these days - so customers might feel somewhat peeved to arrive in their seats with their shoes caked in mud.

And the Usher Hall staff might rightly feel even more peeved since the interior has been scrubbed to within an inch of its life - the theory being that if they can't control the mess outside, they can at least make sure it's spotless inside.

The same can't be said of many of the Fringe's venues.

Ok, the spirit of the fringe, as discussed previously on this blog, is about make and do, finding any venue and making it into a theatre.

But there's a fine line between charming intimacy and downright grubby.

A few of the larger venues need to get their acts together with toilet facilities which might not raise eyebrows among sozzled students, but raise the hackles of those who've just shelled out £15 for one of their shows.

Old venues are another matter entirely as the incident at C3 Venue earlier in the week underlined.

A child was injured after a pane of glass fell onto the audience.

Accidents can happen in even the most seaworthy venue, but they're a worrying risk for the hundreds of performers and audiences in ancient churches, dilapidated halls and ad hoc accommodation across the capital this month.

And one of the oldest venues on the fringe looks like it's in jeopardy.

The Assembly Rooms which has been under the stewardship of Bill Burdett Coutts for the last 30 years is being developed by Edinburgh City Council.

If refurbishment goes ahead in 2010, the building may not be available for the Assembly Rooms to use and Mr Burdett Coutts would have to look elsewhere.

While I understand his concern, the Assembly Rooms is used all year round for a variety of events and it's hard for those of us who also live here all year round to see why three weeks worth of Fringe should get in the way of the development.

We're told he's in talks with the council to see if an Usher Hall-type arrangement could be made, meaning the venue can still exist.

If so, bring your wellies and meet you in the marquee in 2010.