edinburgh festivals

Edinburgh International Festival

Each year the Edinburgh International Festival stages one of the greatest celebrations of the arts, attracting audiences from around the world to the city's thrilling atmosphere. The festivities offer a unique opportunity to experience the excitement of live performance by internationally renowned artists as well as the joy of discovering new and unfamiliar works.

One of the International Festival's highlights is the huge open air concert held in Princes Street Gardens, accompanied by a massive firework display from the castle ramparts. This event takes place on the final day of the Festival and is essentially the closing ceremony - but best of all, it is free. The Edinburgh International Festival is held annually in mid-August or early September. The programme is usually available from around May time, and if there is something you particularly want to see make sure you book in advance (especially for the Military Tattoo).And whilst the Festival is naturally a great time to visit Edinburgh, it is also worth remembering that accommodation is booked out months in advance so make sure you get your hotel sorted before you arrive!

• Visit the Edinburgh Festival web site

But the International Festival isn't Edinburgh's only calendar event - it is also home to Festival Fringe, Hogmanay, Book, Film, Jazz & Blues, Science, & Children's festivals and the Military Tattoo. The 2007 Edinburgh International Festival will run from the 10th of August to the 2nd of September.

Together with its counterparts, the Book, the Jazz, the Fringe and the Film Festivals, the Edinburgh International Festival forms what is now widely regarded as the biggest and best arts festival in the world.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

And of course, one of the biggest attractions during the festival is the army's contribution - famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which is held on the Esplanade of the Castle. Held since 1950 this is the single most popular event in Edinburgh's International Festival, with over 200,000 people watching it each year.

The 2007 Edinburgh Military Tattoo celebrates over 50 years of music and spectacle set against the world famous backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

The Edinburgh Tattoo is the most spectacular show in the world, enjoyed by an international television audience of 100 million.
But there's no substitute for being there, as part of the 217,000-strong audience over its three-week season on the Esplanade at Edinburgh Castle who don't simply watch the show but become a part of it.
The international flavour of the Tattoo has been deliberately developed as a key element in its capacity to entertain a huge, cosmopolitan audience.
From its early days, the Edinburgh Tattoo has been an international favourite. Performers from 40 countries have presented here, and around 35 per cent of the 217,000 audience each year are from overseas.
In addition, the Tattoo has been televised in more than 30 countries around the world.

Fringe Festival In Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe claims to be the largest arts festival in the world. The Fringe Festival tends to be more off beat than the main festival and is made up of all manner of professional and amateur performers. As a result it tends to appeal to a younger audience. The Fringe side of the Edinburgh Festival is now regarded by the stage industry as so cutting edge and innovative that it is viewed by many as a showcase for new talent.

• Fringe 2006 featured 28,014 performances of 1,867 shows in 261 venues (Fringe 2005 featured 26,995 performances of 1,799 shows in 240 venues).
• There were an estimated 16,990 performers on Edinburgh’s Fringe stages.
• Theatre made up 32% of the programme, followed by Comedy (27%) then Music (21%). Musicals, Children’s Shows, Dance & Physical Theatre, Exhibitions and Events each provided around 4% of the programme.
• Over a third (36%) of all shows were World premieres. 4% were UK premieres, 10% European premieres.
• 177 shows at Fringe 2006 were absolutely free.
• It would take you 5 years, 11 months and 16 days to see every performance back-to-back.
• Last year, the Fringe sold 1,531, 606 tickets - the fourth consecutive year that the Fringe sailed past the million-ticket barrier.
• The Fringe has a 75% market share of all attendance at Edinburgh’s year-round festivals and annually generates around £75 million for the Edinburgh and Scottish economy.
• The Fringe sells 97% more tickets than it did only 10 years ago (679,147 in 1995, 1,531,606 in 2006).
•  In 2006, there were 28,014 performances - 94% more performances than 10 years ago.
• Visit the Fringe Festival web site

Edinburgh International Film Festival

The Edinburgh International Film Festival or EIFF is part of the Edinburgh Festival, which takes place every August. Established in 1947, it is the longest continually running film festival in the world. When it was started by the Edinburgh Film Guild (the oldest continually running Film Society in the world) it was only for documentaries. At the time there were only a couple of other Film Festivals in the world (Cannes and Venice). The festival shows a range of films from around the world and screens not only feature length films and documentaries, but also shorts, animations and music videos. The Grand Jury awards "The Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film" while the audience can vote for the "Standard Life Audience Award" and a panel made up of first time film-makers judges the "Skillset New Directors Award." There are also several awards given to short films. All films shown are U.K. premieres although many are also European or International Premieres.
The Artistic Director since September 2006 is Hannah McGill, previously a film critic and cinema columnist for [[The Herald {Glasgow)|The Herald]] newspaper. Ginnie Atikinson is the long serving Managing Director. Sir Sean Connery and Tilda Swinton are the film festivals honorary patrons.
Shane Danielson, the previous Artistic director programmed the festival between 2002 and 2006

The Book and Jazz Festivals

The Book and Jazz Festivals, whilst smaller, also attract big names in their respective fields. These are more recently established offshoots of the main festival, but nevertheless have become equally popular.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival began in 1983 and is now a key event in the August Festival season, celebrated annually in Scotland's capital city. Biennial at first, the Book Festival became a yearly celebration in 1997.
Throughout its 23-year history, the Book Festival has grown rapidly in size and scope to become the largest and most dynamic festival of its kind in the world. In its first year the Book Festival played host to just 30 'Meet the Author' events. Today, the Festival programmes over 650 events, which are enjoyed by people of all ages.

Since its inception, the Book Festival's home has been the beautiful and historic Charlotte Square Gardens, centrally located in Edinburgh's world heritage listed Georgian New Town. Each year the gardens are transformed into a magical tented village, which welcome around 220,000 visitors.

Edinburgh International Jazz Festival

The biggest jazz celebration in the UK takes place in Edinburgh this year from Friday 27 July – Sunday 5 August.
The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival is not only the oldest in Britain - the 2007 edition is the 29th - it is also the most diverse. Unusually, Edinburgh treats all jazz styles as equals, and offers listeners the opportunity to hear the entire 90 years of jazz history in a single day. From the original music of New Orleans and Chicago in the early 1920's to the cutting edge of contemporary jazz from New York in 2007 - and across the leading international jazz scenes, Edinburgh covers all the bases.
There are 101 events over ten days and audiences are expected to once again exceed 50,000.
Concerts take place in the Queen's Hall, The Hub, The Spiegeltent (and its new colleague in George Square, The Bosco Theatre), The Lot, The Royal Overseas League, The Jamhouse and The Minto Hotel.