The sun might not quite have been out today but the crowds certainly were for the opening day of Fringe By The Sea.

Rory Steel, director of the North Berwick festival, could be seen on site making sure everything was running smoothly.

He told the Courier: “As long as that big orange orb stays around, it will all be good.”

The festival site was filled with residents and visitors chilling out, enjoying food and the atmosphere.

With many gripped by events at the Paris Olympics, the festival’s first big name was certainly apt. 

READ MORE: The full Fringe by the Sea lowdown

Former Olympic ski jumper Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards entertained a crowd with a very animated story of his life.

He said: “I’m Britain’s first – and last – Olympic ski jumper.

“I can’t believe it’s been 36 years since the Calgary Olympics!”

Capturing something of the spirit of his fame in 1988, the year he competed at Calgary and became a worldwide celebrity due to his charisma and lack of success (he came last in both his events), Eddie shared a video showing his interview on The Johnny Carson Show, and also adverts in which he starred for Ford Orion and Specsavers.

Eddie explained to a captivated audience that he sees his life “in episodes of ‘how did I get here?’ moments”.

He added: “The biggest was accidentally becoming a pop star in Finland!”

Finnish rock and folk singer Irwin Goodman wrote two songs about Eddie, and he was invited to Finland to sing and record them.

 Goodman died on the very morning of Eddie’s arrival. . . so he still recorded them in tribute to the musician, reaching number two in the Finnish pop charts.

(Image: Newsquest)

Eddie said: “So in Finland I’m a pop star! But to this day I don’t know what I was singing. It’s in Finnish and I don’t speak Finnish.”

Eddie admitted that some of his “how did I get here?” moments were not quite so glamorous – including the occasion he was invited to open a tourist centre in Clovelly, Devon, but the eagle outfit in which he was supposed to dress to descend from a plane didn’t arrive and he found himself dressed as a chicken.

But Eddie’s talk – and one of the reasons for his global fame – was overwhelmingly positive and upbeat.

From remembering the 80,000 spectators cheering his name at Calgary, being sent money to help him get there by hundreds of strangers who saw him on BBC’s Nine O’Clock News, being given the gear to compete by teams of other nations who took pity on him – “Instead of jumping for Britain I should be jumping for the EU!” he said to himself after being kitted out by the Italians, Germans, French, Austrians and Swiss – to staying in a psychiatric hospital (not as a patient!) because he couldn’t afford accommodation while training in Finland, Eddie turned every anecdote into one of either good fortune or resilience.

Even his tale of scraping food out of bins at an international scout centre in Switzerland because he couldn’t afford to eat might have drawn several yucks from the audience but, rather than ask for pity, Eddie was showing evidence of his absolute determination and will to succeed.

(Image: Isla Aitken)

“It was what was happening on the ski jump that was important,” he said – and it was clear from this incredible hour at the festival that ski jumping has always meant the world to this son of a plasterer from Cheltenham.

“The more people told me I couldn’t do something,” he said, “the more determined I was to do and prove them wrong. With bags of resilience, tenacity and determination, you can achieve anything.”

That’s a message the Fringe by the Sea team could probably relate to – and if the crowds keep coming, it should be a great 10 days.

To find out more, go to fringebythesea.com