Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 5 - 29 August (previews from 3 August) 

It's an exciting time for Festival enthusiasts - as, amidst much eager anticipation, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has unveiled its 2011 programme.  It's the moment we've all been waiting for: with less than two months to go until the annual extravaganza begins, the release of the printed programme offers our first true insight into what's on offer this year.

With all due deference to the International Festival - which opened up ticket sales way back in March - it's the much larger Fringe launch which really heralds the start of the Festival run-in.  There's still no sign of the much-threatened post-recession slump, as the programme reveals yet another record-breaking year; with an extraordinary 2,542 shows spread across its 25-day run, it would take 100 sleepless days and nights to catch them all.  As befits an open-access arts festival, there's no theme linking these disparate events - and equally, no trammel to the visiting performers' boundless creativity.

Getting the programme

You can download the programme as a huge PDF file (broadband users only, we suggest).  But that's quite hard work; for browsing, there's really no beating a printed copy.

In Edinburgh, good places to grab a programme include the tourist information centre at Waverley Steps, the Hub up by the Castle, and of course the Festival Fringe shop on the Royal Mile.  According to the Fringe website, you'll also find them in branches of Waterstone's, HMV and Fopp, as well as the Festival Theatre, Traverse, Usher Hall, Lyceum and Playhouse.  In a welcome addition, there are also two new outlets in Edinburgh's Southside - Newington Library and the Eric Liddell Centre in Morningside.

If you're in Glasgow or London, you have many local options too: check out the list of outlets on the Fringe's website.

Elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, you can get a programme from selected branches of HMV - though be warned, you'll need to make your way to your nearest major city.  Again, check the Fringe website for advice on where to go.

Or to have the programme posted to you, sign up on the Fringe's website.  Unsurprisingly, considering it weighs in at a hefty 360 pages, they charge a £3.50 postage fee.

Getting the tickets

The Fringe's box office is open now.  We have a lot of information on the arcane world of Fringe ticketing, but at this stage it's pretty simple - call the central box office on 0131 226 0000, or get onto the Fringe's website.  You can also book directly with some major venues, though if you're seeing a lot of shows, getting all your tickets through the central box office will save on booking fees.

If you're not sure what you want to see, don't panic: there's no great rush to book tickets for the vast majority of Fringe shows.  That said, a handful will sell out quickly - tickets for Radio 4's free recording sessions are particularly sought-after, as are the (cheaper) previews for well-known acts.  Generally speaking, if you're limited to specific dates and want to see someone famous, it's worth booking now... while if you're flexible or your tastes lean towards the more obscure, you can afford to leave it a while.

Friends of the Fringe

If you'll be bringing a friend or partner to a lot of Fringe shows, it's worth considering the Friends of the Fringe scheme.  For a fee of £25 (or £22 by direct debit), you'll get 2-for-1 tickets on a broad range of shows - though it's worth knowing that there's a limit on the number you can purchase, and that big-name acts are usually excluded from the deal.  Controversially, there's no priority booking period for Friends this year, though you do get a dedicated phone line.  It's worth considering if you're part of a twosome; you can get details and sign up here.

From tomorrow, and throughout June, we'll be choosing a daily Preview Pick from the 2011 Fringe programme.  To find out what FringeGuru's experts are pencilling into their diaries, check back on FringeGuru.com.  Or get ready for our daily choices by following us on Twitter.