Against the dramatic flood-lit backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, the dancers poured out. There were bangle sellers and balloon sellers, women in bright Rajasthani skirts and men in turbans, all jiving to the thumping beat of Bollywood soundtracks and transforming the Castle esplanade into an Indian mela. Bollywood had come to Edinburgh and everyone was dancing.

For the first time, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the internationally acclaimed show featuring brass bands and military bands from across the world, invited Bollywood dancers to be part of the display for this year's special "East Meets West" theme.

The tattoo is one of the main attractions of the Edinburgh Festival, the largest arts festival in the world, which takes place every year in August during the summer holiday season. Over 2,00,000 visitors flock to see the street performers, dancers, musicians, authors and filmmakers bringing cutting-edge shows to the Scottish capital. They walk the cobbled streets along the Royal Mile, watch the nightly fireworks from the castle, drink a dram of whisky or a pint of ale at the local pubs or catch a late-night stand-up comedy.

On a typical day at Edinburgh you could see J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai at the Book Festival, catch comedians Hardeep Singh Kohli, Shazia Mirza or Romesh Ranganathan at the Fringe Festival, see Tamasha Theatre company's My Name Is... based on the true story of the Scottish teenager Gaby, who disappeared from her home in Scotland, leading everyone to think that she had been kidnapped by her Pakistani father, or listen to Karen Ruimy's ZIK'R, the mystical path of flamenco from India to Seville. With over 1,00,000 events every day, the choice was heady.

As the sun set over Edinburgh castle, the biggest attraction was the tattoo. Setting the "East-West" mood were the Shetland Fiddlers and the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland who gave a special nod to A.R. Rahman and the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire by playing Jai Ho, while Scottish Highland dancers in blue tartan skirts performed an energetic heel-kicking Ceilidih.

"This was almost 18 months in planning," Sanjoy Roy, head of Teamwork Productions, who brought the show to Edinburgh, told The Telegraph. "The response has been phenomenal. For the first time the tattoo linked up with the Edinburgh Mela. We are working with the local community as well as international performers."

Co-ordinating 1,200 dancers was no simple exercise. Dancers from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Scotland practised and performed with the Indian cast and crew for three weeks during the tattoo, which this year celebrated its 66th anniversary.

"This year's show brought together some traditional allies and some new friends," said chief executive and producer Brigadier David Allfrey. The Indian dancers shared the stage with the Lotus Dragon Dance group from south China, while the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army of China marched on the cobbled square for the first time. The Gurkhas were not forgotten either, and a special cheer rang out to the men from the hills of Nepal who celebrate 200 years of service to the British Crown this year.

When the curtain came down on the tattoo and the lone piper played his last tune against the castle ramparts, it was time for the Bollywood dancers to move to the Edinburgh Mela with their full show - Bollywood Love Story - a musical extravaganza.

"We cut the show from two hours to one hour, and involved local Scottish dancers. They did it with only four days of rehearsals," said Roy, who played the sutradhar in the musical. "It was quite fascinating."

The musical extravaganza, staged on August 30 and 31, used the simple Bollywood storyboard - boy, girl, villain, et al - injected with tracks from Bollywood's greatest hits. It has travelled from Europe to the US, with versions in German, Spanish and other local languages. For the UK debut, there were some local references: "Not all marriages are made in heaven, Charles and Camilla, Cameron and Clegg...," said the sutradhar, to roars from the audience.

Behind the scenes there was some tension as seven of the 14-member cast from India were initially refused visas by the British government. Hitches like this are part of the everyday nightmares of Roy, who organises over 15 festivals around the world. In the end, over 2,000 people packed the main tent at the Edinburgh Mela to cheer and whistle in true Indian style during the show.

Meanwhile, in a cellar of a pub, a British-Pakistani stand-up comic, Sajeela Kershi, was telling the story of how her uncle was kidnapped by the Taliban, but her aunt - who hated technology and telephones - would not pick up the phone. "Ring, ring... no answer."

Finally, "Hello, Madam, this is the Taliban here..."

"'I don't take cold calls!' Slam!"

"Hello, Madam, we have your husband!"

"Slam!"

"Three days later. "Madam, we have kidnapped your husband..."

" Hai Allah, why did you not say so?"

Kershi, who has been doing stand-ups since 2006 and got four star reviews for her one-woman show Shallow Halal, says she's had enough of Koran-hijacking extremists, Dawkins-spouting atheists and finger-pointing social media to last a lifetime! She is sitting firmly on the faith fence. And concludes, in the famous words of the Beatles, "All you need is love". Kershi also did a second show - Immigrant Diaries - questioning the anti-immigration rhetoric from the people's point of view rather than the statistics.

Also questioning the faith, as well as Western misconceptions about Islam, was Aatif Nawaz with Muslims Do it 5 Times a Day, his late night solo show at the Edinburgh fringe. Nawaz, a British-Pakistani actor, comedian and award-winning documentary filmmaker, performed to full houses, carrying the growing tradition of British Muslim comics who have made a space for themselves in the Western comedy circuit and created their own stand-up versions of Charlie Hebdo.

"I did not add '# je suit Charlie' to my tweets," said Kershi. "And so I lost some Facebook friends. 'You have to support freedom of speech,' shouted an FB ex-friend! No pressure, then," laughed Kershi. Can hashtags really save humanity, she asks.

In the cultural potpourri of Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Kershi has a voice. And, going by the number of people attending the shows, the message is getting through.