By Keily Oakes BBC News Online entertainment staff in Edinburgh

Street performers are having to fight it out for space at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - taking a chance on a daily lottery to win a performance space.

Although it is the comedians and controversial shows that catch the headlines, it is the many street performers which add colour and vibrancy to the Scottish city during the day.

But with so many performers wanting to showcase their acts in the packed high street, space and time is at a premium.

The battle for an audience is never-ending

Street performing can serve two purposes - making money and promoting a show.

Performers must now wait outside the Fringe offices hoping to be chosen to perform in one of the 36 spaces around the city centre.

"Some spots and times are better than others. What's good for a juggler might not be good for a comic," said mime artist Silver.

But winning a space may not be enough to ensure an audience gets your message.

Performers must compete against each other, not just in terms of the quality of acts but also how much noise they can create.

Wellies

Pupils from St Paul's Girls' School lost the battle to pull audiences into a snippet of their surreal Six Characters in Search of an Author to a duo of loud jugglers and an excited audience on the pitch next door.

But taking risks can be rewarding

"The space you get is important but in the end it's the quality of your show that counts most," said fire-breathing juggling unicyclist Damien, who has brought his act over from Australia.

Meanwhile, preparations are under way for Fringe Sunday, a huge free event featuring more than 200 acts taking part in the festival.

About 150,000 people are expected to descend on The Meadows on Sunday to watch some of the biggest acts, mingled with some of the more bizarre spectacles from the festival.

The Caca Show, an act which tells the story of a man and his toilet habits, was chosen to launch the event to highlight a 15% rise in the number of toilets at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

DJs

There are concerns about the state of the ground at the Meadows because of recent rain, but the show will go on.

Caca: One man and his toilet

"In a worst case scenario people can just wear their wellies," said event co-ordinator Wesley Cameron.

The organisers of the Edinburgh Film Festival, which runs from 14-25 August, have unveiled a star line-up of DJs playing at its opening night event.

Aphex Twin and Autechre are among the names booked for the party at the city's Corn Exchange to promote a series of films from their Warp record label.