Brian Ferguson’s diary

It has been something of a tradition for “Week Zero” to begin trying to shelter from the rain, clutching a pint, at Underbelly’s big purple cow. Not so this year after heading off to a special event at the EICC to mark the 70th anniversary of the festivals.

But the mugs of tea, shortbread and chatshow format, with culture secretary Fiona Hyslop lobbing under-armers to Edinburgh International Festival director Fergus Linehan, Fringe Society boss Shona Mccarthy and film festival chief Ken Hay, felt a bit lame. The all-toocosy feel was completed with a “happy birthday” rendition and flowers for the host.

It was a very different story at Le Monde, one of the more bling meccas on George Street, for the Scottish Comedy Awards, surely one of the noisiest rabbles I’ll encounter this month. Some of the most raucous cheers were reserved for Richard Gadd, who was – somewhat bizarrely – honoured for winning the Fringe’s big comedy award a year ago, and Isla Nelson,