Edinburgh Festival
Encyclopedia
Arts festival
An arts festival is a festival that focuses on the visual arts in all its forms, but which may also focus on or include other arts.Arts festivals in the visual arts are exhibitions and are not to be confused with the commercial art fair. Artists participate in the most important of such festival...
festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
s that take place in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
each summer, mostly in August. Though the festivals are put on by various organizations unrelated to each other, and so are officially separate events, they are regarded by many visitors as part of the same event; and together they form the largest annual cultural festival in the world.
The original, and still the largest, component festivals are the Edinburgh International Festival
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 , theatre, opera...
and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; the latter is in its own right larger than any other similar event in the world.
History
The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) was established in 1947 in a post-war effort to "provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit". That same year, eight theatrical companies "gatecrashed" the official Festival by organizing their own event, outside the official auspices of the EIF; this started the movement which grew into the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (EFF). The EFF is also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe, or (incorrectly) the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.The EIF and the Fringe remain independent bodies and run separate programmes each year. In more recent years various other annual cultural festivals have been created in Edinburgh, again by separate organizations, though taking place at around the same time.
The festivals
- Edinburgh International FestivalEdinburgh International FestivalThe 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 , theatre, opera...
(founded 1947)* — The original and "official" festival consisting of classical and contemporary theatre, opera, music, dance, visual arts, talks and workshops. - Edinburgh FringeEdinburgh FringeThe Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
(1947)* — now the largest of all the festivals and indeed the largest arts festival in the world. Includes theatre, comedy, music, musicals, dance and children's shows. - Edinburgh International Film FestivalEdinburgh International Film FestivalThe Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
or EIFF (1947) was traditionally held in August but, from 2008 is being held in late June. - Edinburgh Military TattooEdinburgh Military TattooThe Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of Military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and International military bands and display teams in the Scottish capital Edinburgh...
(1950)* - Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (1978)*
- Edinburgh International Book FestivalEdinburgh International Book FestivalThe Edinburgh International Book Festival, is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square, in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital...
(1983)* - Edinburgh MelaEdinburgh melaThe Edinburgh Mela is an annual multi-cultural festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland,and is one of the 12 festivals that make up the Edinburgh Festival. The first mela, a Sanskrit word meaning "gathering" or "to meet", was held in 1995 at Meadowbank Stadium, and was organised by members of the...
(1995) — celebrating Edinburgh's South Asian communities - Edinburgh International Internet Festival (1999)
- Edinburgh People's FestivalEdinburgh People's FestivalThe Edinburgh People's Festival is inspired by the 1945 Labour Government which established the Edinburgh Festival to be a celebration of the arts 'for the people, by the people'...
(2002, but claims heritage from earlier festival of same name 1951-1954) - Edinburgh Interactive Festival (2003)
- Edinburgh Art FestivalEdinburgh Art FestivalThe Edinburgh Art Festival is an annual visual arts festival, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, during August to coincide with the Edinburgh Festival. The Art Festival was established in 2004, and receives public funding from the Scottish Arts Council. The current Festival Director is Joanne S...
(2004)* - Edinburgh AnnualeEdinburgh AnnualeThe Edinburgh Annuale is a visual art festival involving Edinburgh galleries and art projects, especially ones that promote local activity in the visual arts. The Edinburgh Annuale exists to promote grassroots visual arts operations in the city....
(2004) — contemporary art - Edinburgh Free FringeFree FringeThe Free Fringe is an organisation that promotes free shows at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Free Fringe venues are commonly independently run bars and nightclubs which create performance spaces in their premises for the duration of the Fringe Festival...
(2006) - A festival of free shows, and part of The Fringe. - Free Edinburgh Fringe FestivalFree Edinburgh Fringe FestivalThe Free Festival is an organisation that promotes free shows of all genres at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Free Festival venues are commonly independently run bars and nightclubs which create performance spaces in their premises for the duration of the Fringe Festival...
(2004) - Another festival of free shows, also part of The Fringe. - Festival of Politics (2005)
- Festival of Spirituality and Peace (2005)
- iFestIfestiFest - the Internet Festival and Conference is a new festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2007, at the same time as many of the other Edinburgh Festivals...
(2007) — the Internet Festival and Conference - Edinburgh Comedy FestivalEdinburgh Comedy FestivalEdinburgh Comedy Festival is a collection of comedy shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which runs each August.-Media coverage:In June 2008, there were many news stories and commentaries in the media about the launch of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, both positive and negative.Much was reported...
(2008)* - The comedy programmes from Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly—part of the Edinburgh FringeEdinburgh FringeThe Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
. - West Port Book FestivalWest Port Book FestivalThe West Port Book Festival is a book festival which is held in Edinburgh. It was run during the busy Edinburgh Festival season for its first years, but it now takes place in June. This year's festival runs from 24th - 27th June....
(2008) - a free book festival based around secondhand bookshops in the West PortWest Port, EdinburghWest Port is a street in Edinburgh's Old Town, Scotland, located just south of Edinburgh Castle. It runs from Main Point down to the south west corner of the Grassmarket...
area - Edinburgh Book Fringe
- Islam Festival Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Swing Festival
- Edinburgh Harvest Festival
The following festival also occurs in Edinburgh during August, but is an industry gathering - it does not offer events open to the public:
- Edinburgh International Television FestivalEdinburgh International Television FestivalThe Edinburgh International Television Festival, founded in 1976, is held annually over the British August bank holiday weekend at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre....
(1976)
External links
- Edinburgh Festivals a guide to 12 of the festivals that take place in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Festival Guide
- A history of the festivals
- Edinburgh Festival Classroom resources
- National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE (selection of archive films about the Edinburgh Festival)