Edinburgh International Festival

The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music (especially classical music), theatre, opera and dance from around the world to perform. The festival also hosts a series of visual art exhibitions, talks and workshops.

History

The first International Festival (and the first Edinburgh Festival Fringe, although it wasn't known as such until the following year) took place between 22 August and 11 September 1947, in the wake of the end of the Second World War, with an optimistic remit to "provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit" and enrich the cultural life of Scotland, Britain and Europe. The founders of the Festival included Rudolf Bing, the General Manager of Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Henry Harvey Wood, the Head of the British Council in Scotland, Sidney Newman, Reid Professor of Music at Edinburgh University, and a group of civic leaders from the City of Edinburgh, in particular the Lord Provost Sir John Falconer. Bing, the moving spirit behind the enterprise, had looked at several English cities before settling on Edinburgh. The Festival has since taken place every August.

Today

In 1999, the Edinburgh International Festival moved to a permanent home in The Hub, formerly 'The Highland Tolbooth' - an architecturally remarkable building a couple of minutes' walk from Edinburgh Castle, originally built as a church and General Assembly Hall for the Church of Scotland. Its gothic spire is the highest point in central Edinburgh, and can be seen for many miles around.

Every year the Festival showcases three exhilarating weeks of the very best in international music, theatre, opera and dance.

Festival 2011 explores the mysterious and allure of the east which have fascinated and inspired western artists for centuries. The programme offers the chance to immerse yourself in the beauty, traditions and philosophies of these unique cultures.

Some of the finest artists from China, Korea, Taiwan, India, Vietnam and Japan will present their distinctive performances; and, as modern perceptions of east and west continue to shift, the Festival’s series of talks and debates examines how the dynamic between the two is changing within the global landscape.

Festival venues

The principal venues of the Festival are:

• Usher Hall (capacity 2,300)
• Festival Theatre (1,800), primarily used for opera and ballet productions.
• The Edinburgh Playhouse (2,900)
• Royal Lyceum Theatre (650)
• The Queen's Hall (920)
• The Hub (420)

Festival directors

• 1947 - 1949: Sir Rudolf Bing
• 1950 - 1955: Sir Ian Bruce Hope Hunter
• 1956 - 1960: Robert Noel Ponsonby
• 1961 - 1965: George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood
• 1966 - 1978: Peter Diamand
• 1979 - 1983: Sir John Richard Gray Drummond
• 1984 - 1991: Frank Dunlop
• 1992 - 2006: Sir Brian McMaster
• From October 2006–present: Jonathan Mills

Other Festivals in Edinburgh

About ten other festivals are held in Edinburgh at about the same time as the International Festival. Collectively, the entire group is referred to as the Edinburgh Festival. Most notable of these is the Edinburgh Fringe, which started as an offshoot of the International Festival and has since grown to be the world's largest arts festival.

See also

• List of opera festivals

Further reading

• Miller, E., The Edinburgh International Festival, 1947 - 1996, Scolar Press, Aldershot, 1996
• Bruce, G., Festival in the North: Story of the Edinburgh International Festival of the Arts, Hale, 1975

External links

• Official web site
• Official Festivals Guide to all 12 festivals that take place in Edinburgh
• Edinburgh Festival Guide full listings and reviews for all the Edinburgh festivals
• The Scotsman Full coverage of EIF
• EdinburghGuide.com Previews and Reviews
• Fest Magazine, a free and independent Edinburgh Festival magazine
• ThreeWeeks a guide to the Edinburgh Festival
• A Punter's Perspective A history of the International (& other August) festivals plus links to previews/reviews
• Edinburgh Festival Classroom resources
• National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE (selection of archive films about the Edinburgh Festival)