KARUNA SHINSHO, CNN ANCHOR: The world's biggest arts festival is in full swing, in Scotland. Over the years, the Edinburgh Festival has launched the careers of thousands of actors and comedians. Here's Emily Reuben (ph) with some of this years talents.</s>CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These three may look like they are recovering from a night on the town. In fact, they are some of the many street performers providing the buzz and the color at Edinburgh's 54th Fringe Festival. One hundred thousand people crowded the streets for the start of it, making this the biggest arts event in the world.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to figure out what's going on right now. I'm thinking about Mardi Gras in New Orleans, as is it's the same.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people playing in the streets. Music, the other -- very good.</s>REUBEN (ph): Ten thousand acts will perform here over the next three weeks, and organizers hope audiences will be adventurous in their choices.</s>CHARLOTTE DICORPO, FRINGE ORGANIZER: There are about 800 shows a day, so I would just encourage everybody to experiment a little bit. And yes, there are TV names that come up to the Fringe, but there are hundreds of unknown -- so you really need to keep your ear to the ground and just be totally open minded about it.</s>REUBEN (ph): The festival has launched many careers, but it's no longer the ticket to fame that it once was.</s>BARRIE PAUL, COMEDIAN: You need an agent. You need somebody to produce the show. You need somebody, hopefully, to put up the money that it's going to cost you to come up here and do a show. Then you stand a chance.</s>REUBEN (ph): Cash pails will be ringing in the city, though. The event's expected to bring in 42 million pounds. Emily Reuben (ph).
In Scotland, World's Biggest Arts Festival