THE MERMAID, THE OTTER AND THE BIG POO Comes to Edinburgh Fringe

Most Edinburgh Festival Fringe performers prefer to travel by train, tram, car, bus or bike, or of course on foot, but not Lindsey Cole who dons a mermaid tail and swims. The ‘Adventure Mermaid' first made a splash yesterday (Monday 28 July) when she broke her journey from Bristol to Edinburgh to swim the entire 10.5-mile length of Lake Windermere in her mermaid tail and outfit. Lindsey plans to don them once more to embrace the chilly waters of the Firth of Forth, as she trains for a Guinness World Record attempt this September.

A record-breaking swim is not Lindsey's only challenge right now. She is currently conducting an urgent search for a different volunteer every day to step into the role of ‘The Big Poo' live on stage, in her new family Fringe show, The Mermaid, the Otter and the Big Poo, at the Gilded Balloon Patter House from 30 July to 17 August 2025 (excl. 11 August) at 11.30am. With no speaking lines, no experience is necessary (inflatable costume, a free ticket and an unforgettable experience is provided in return!). Lindsey hopes to tempt local residents, tourists, Fringe performers and perhaps a few Fringe celebrities to sign up for the fun role.

Based on her popular children's book, The Mermaid, the Otter and the Big Poo is about Lindsey's 60-kilometre swim adventure down the Bristol Avon in a mermaid tail with her big poo sculpture, campaigning against sewage pollution. Expect songs, games, audience participation, punk  and a whole dump of adventurous fun.

Lindsey's journey as an environmental adventurer began after she cut her hand on plastic while freediving in Indonesia in 2016. Around the same time, a sperm whale washed ashore nearby with a stomach full of plastic. Lindsey says: “I wanted to raise awareness of the plastic pandemic, so returned home and swam the length of the River Thames, towing a mermaid sculpture made of upcycled plastic. Along the way, I rescued a drowning cow. The following day I was on page 3 of The Sun - Mermaid Saves Drowning Cow. A school turned my story into their school play. In turn, I turned it into a book. I dressed my dog up as a cow and toured the country with my book. I discovered how much kids love mermaids. and decided to marry my love of adventure, storytelling and the environment.”

The Thames swim sparked a wave of connections. Strangers invited Lindsey to swim in their favourite wild spots. By February, she was cycling to the inaugural Scottish Cold Water Swimming Championships, couch-surfing with new swimming friends. One ride led to another, and she ended up journeying for six months through Orkney, Shetland, the Hebrides, Snowdonia, Cork, Dublin, and the Isles of Scilly.

Eventually, Lindsey settled in Bristol long enough to swim the River Avon, where she continued her mermaiding and swam the length of the Avon, towing a big poo sculpture to investigate how sewage pollution affects otters. The experience became a kids' book - The Mermaid, the Otter and the Big Poo - and as of this August, a Fringe show. It also inspired Lindsey's latest mission: breaking a Guinness World Record this September in her mermaid tail to raise awareness of sewage pollution in British waterways.

As well as the stage show, The Mermaid, the Otter and the Big Poo is also a film and citizen science campaign, aiming to spread awareness about the existential crisis facing our rivers and their surrounding ecosystems due to pollution and underfunding. 

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