Performers take to streets as power cuts hit Edinburgh Fringe

The Oxford Alternotives performed on the street after their show was cancelled

Performers took to the streets of Edinburgh after power cuts disrupted the opening day of the Fringe festival leaving venues in darkness.

Acts described their shows suddenly going "pitch black" - with several cancelled and others continuing without stage lighting.

The first outage affected the city's southside from about 16:00 to 18:00. A second power cut then hit the west of the city at about 19:00.

SP Energy Networks apologised for the disruption, which they said was caused by a cable fault

The glum cast of musical I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change after their show was abandoned

Venues including Underbelly cancelled performances at their Bristo Square and George Square locations.

Comedian Olaf Falafal carried on with his show at the Pear Tree venue despite the disruption.

He told BBC Scotland's Drivetime: "I was about 20 minutes into my show and everything shut off.

"I went oh... I had about 90 folk in and everything went pitch black. There’s a lot of multimedia and video in it too.

"I asked if we could carry on and they were like yeah, so we got them all to put their phone lights on and they spotlit me."

The comedian used his iPad to play his video clips and said it was "one of the most interesting and emotional shows" he had ever done.

Shows like Dance'n Speak Easy, at Underbelly's Bristo Square venue, were affected

Student acapella group the Oxford Alternotives ended up performing in the street after having to leave the Space Triplex building on Hill Place.

The group's Hattie Twigger-Ross said: "We made the best of the situation and performed outside.

"Whilst the situation was not ideal, we were able to lighten the mood and keep people entertained.

"Getting to meet the lovely people who had planned to see our show has made us even more excited to perform the full set tomorrow."

The cast of musical I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change posted on social media that they were only three numbers into their first Fringe appearance before the power failure caused it to be abandoned.

Edinburgh Travel News, an account run by a team from City of Edinburgh Council, said the outage had also affected some traffic signals in the city.