When fire destroyed the old Gilded Balloon, a gap was left in the Cowgate like a pulled tooth on the face of the Old Town. The pain was doubly felt by those Fringe veterans who had enjoyed many a rabble-rousing time and sweaty night in its dank, cavernous chambers.
Arts impresario Hartley Kemp, organiser of C Venues in Edinburgh, saw the potential and the symbolism of moving into the vacant lot where the building had once stood and struck a deal with the developers of the gap site to create a tented village venue C Soco Urban Garden (venue 266). The Urban Garden connected via a ramp to C Soco at Adam House on Chamber St.
In spite of an inauspicious first year in 2007 where the uneven ground at the venue became full of puddles due to deluges in August, C Venues persevered. It returned with a skateboard park, along the lines of the Ocean Terminal Transgression Park, featuring extreme sports (including extreme unicycling). It created a beach laying down 250 tonnes of sand, pitching a beach tent, and donning hawaian shirts and straw hats.
C Soco had a licensed cafe-bar, serving food and drink til late, as well as a black box theatre.