My Edinburgh: Vicky Featherstone, Director, National Theatre of Scotland

The first time I went to the Edinburgh Festival, I was 18 and a student at Manchester University. I have been back nearly every year since. I always used to go to Aurora Nova and the Traverse so it was a dream come true when I first had a show on there.

Edinburgh means a lot to me in so many ways. I met my husband [Danny Brown] at the festival. He’s a stand-up comedian who used to host Late ‘n’ Live until 4 o’clock in the morning. Our courting consisted of me chasing him by going to his show, waiting until he finished work and then going for a drink.

The Fringe also allows you to try out new plays on an audience. We premiered Sarah Kane’s “Crave” up here; it was brilliant to find out what it was and to see the audience really embrace new works.

The best thing about the Fringe is its energy and variety. So many people dream about putting shows on here. The ambition and excitement is extraordinary. It’s so hard to have a success at the festival, to pull in the audiences and make it work. It’s the human spirit and the belief in those performances that makes the audience and performers alike go back year after. It is a huge risk. And it’s a risk for the audience too, because often they don’t know what is going to be good and what isn’t. The Edinburgh Fringe is a celebration of risk and ambition, a celebration of the power of the human spirit itself.

Vicky Featherstone directs ‘An Appointment with the Wicker Man’, Assembly Rooms, to 26 August, not 13, 20 ( 0844 693 3008 )

Vicky Featherstone’s Must See Events

I’m really excited about the Simon Stephens play ‘Morning’ that is coming up to the Traverse from the Lyric Young Company. He’s an incredible writer. I’m also excited about seeing Ariane Mnouchkine. I saw her work years ago when I started out and she really inspired me. It’s her first time at Edinburgh with ' Les Naufrages Du Fol Espoir (Aurores) '. She is an amazing director.