The amorphous Edinburgh Festival Fringe is by far the largest of Edinburgh's Festivals, spanning over 250 venues across the city centre. Its sheer size and variety makes for some unusually complex ticketing arrangements - and if you want to get your tickets without spending your days in queues, it's well worth getting your head around them before you come to Edinburgh.

If you remember nothing else about Fringe ticketing, remember this: there are two completely different ways of getting tickets for Fringe shows. You can either buy through the central box office run by the Fringe itself, or go directly through the venue (or chain of venues) hosting the performance.

That's nothing unusual so far - but unlike most of the festivals, where the central box office is linked to the venues', on the Fringe the two channels often sell from separate ticket pools. That means it's common for one of the two systems to sell out while the other still has tickets available - and they won't always tell you that's what's happened. What's more, tickets centrally booked with the Fringe can often only be collected from the Fringe box offices, while tickets booked with the venue can only be collected there.

It's complicated, but if you're planning on spending any time at the Fringe, it's really something you have to know. With the right choice, you'll breeze straight into the show; picking the wrong option will condemn you to a frustrating mile-long schlep to a box office on the wrong side of the city.

Choosing where to buy Fringe tickets

Here are the key advantages and disadvantages of the two options.