“A hidden gem of a comestible compliment to a Fringe venue focused on climate change storytelling.“
Venue 13 is one of the more hidden venues at the Edinburgh Fringe, tucked quietly away behind the Scottish Parliament Building. But don’t let this stop you from snagging some of the most incredible food being served in the city there this month.
Until the end of the Fringe, Venue 13 will be hosting a rotating mix of food vendors, each of them offering a fully vegan menu. Their commitment to vegan cooking is a comestible and ingeniously creative compliment to their focus on storytelling about the climate crisis.
While there is no big sign that announces its vegan identity or loud messaging that tries to convert customers to a plant-based diet, there is truthfully no need to cater to either the vegan or non-vegan folks who have come to the festival with empty stomachs. The food is so good, it should just be enjoyed by everyone.
Until August 17th, the venue is hosting Sri Lankan street food pop-up The Tuskers, which is enjoying an increasingly popular food-print across Scotland at the moment. Co-founder and Chef Ayesha Attidi Panagoda explained that, while their other pop-ups do normally offer non-vegan dishes, their decision to go all-vegan here at Venue 13 was a way to support the venue’s focus on climate change. A lot of Sri Lankan cooking is also just vegan, she continued. For example, all of her curry dishes are made with coconut oil, instead of lard or dairy.
I am not vegan, but when I took my first bite of her curry, I immediately followed The Tuskers Instagram, knowing that the next time I’m in Scotland, I’m planning my trip around wherever their pop-ups are.
Luckily, the Soft Serve Cartel guys who have set up shop alongside The Tuskers kitchen are there to stay through the whole festival. Again, this could have been a loud anti-dairy campaign aimed at festival goers. And again, the food speaks for itself. If you’re at the Fringe and you somehow miss their oat milk-based soft serve (vanilla and pineapple), consider yourself very unlucky.
(I will also credit them with my introduction to Scotland’s Irn-Bru. And they were right: the taste is indeed impossible to describe.)
Get to Venue 13 for your fill of some of the most incredible food this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has to offer and sit down for some of Climate Change Theatre Action’s daily play readings (4:00PM) while you’re there. You’re in for a real (vegan) treat.
Climate Change Theatre Action’s Climate Play Readings at Venue 13 are a part of the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe and play until 23 August every day at 16:00. Get tickets here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/climate-change-theatre-action-2025