ONE of Scotland's biggest arts events is to spread around the globe with the first ever World Fringe Day.

More than 200 events will be held around the world as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe celebrates its 70th year.

It first appeared in 1947 when eight theatre groups turned up to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival, despite not being included in the official programme.

It has since inspired 200 similar events worldwide and last year ran to 50,270 performances of 3,270 shows in almost 300 venues around the city.

Today Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, announced plans for a global celebration on July 11, urging performers and audiences to join in on social media.

McCarthy said: "We are thrilled to reveal the plans for the first-ever World Fringe Day. We can't wait to join with our sister fringes across the world to celebrate the wonder and joy of fringe festivals in this auspicious year.

"This is an incredible opportunity for fringe organisers, venues, participants and audiences to take part in a truly international celebration of creativity that will transcend national boundaries, demonstrating the power of arts and culture to bring people together.

"We hope as many people as possible will join us for a very special day of worldwide fringe fun as we celebrate 70 years of fringe and pay homage to Scotland as the birthplace of the fringe movement."

The Scottish Government is putting £100,000 into the event, details for which will be unveiled in the coming months. Hyslop said: "World Fringe Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the global connections that Scotland has made through the arts.

"It is remarkable to think that the fringe movement, that began here in 1947 with the founding of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, has developed into a worldwide network with fringes now taking place on every continent except Antarctica."