Share Your Photos Competition - Winner Announced!

This year we gave you the opportunity to show us what talented photographers you are with our ‘Share Your Photos’ competition. We asked people who attended the 2008 Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert to send in their photographs and our favourite entry would win a pair of tickets to the Ross Theatre to watch the 2009 Concert.

We had an excellent response to the competition, and with over 50 fantastic entries it was hard to pick a winner but after much deliberation we have selected Will Reynolds picture ‘Fireworks Looking West’ (above). Visit the Official Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert website to view some of the other spectacular entries.

Love singing?

If you think you've got what it takes to sing at the Edinburgh International Festival, come along to one of the Open Rehearsals next week and show us what you can do. The fantastic Festival Chorus perform at the Festival each year and interested singers can come along, sing with the Chorus, and if you are inspired by what you hear sign up for an audition with Chorus Master, Christopher Bell. This is a great opportunity to sing in Festival 09 so don't miss out, book your place with Chorus Administrator, Helen MacLeod at chorus@eif.co.uk and come along to either The Methodist Hall, Crown Terrace, Aberdeen on Monday 27 October at 7.30pm or The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh on Tuesday 28 October at 7.00pm. If you would like to find out more about the Festival Chorus and the audition process visit www.eif.co.uk/festivalchorus.

Photo: Caroline Douglas

Spectacular Fireworks Finale

Festival 08 came to a tumultuous climax on Sunday when then Scottish Chamber Orchestra performed a rousing concert of gypsy inspired dance tunes by Dvorak and Brahms accompanied by the spectacular fireworks display across the Edinburgh skyline. The Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert was enjoyed by over a quarter of a million people across the city and entries are coming in thick and fast for our "Share Your Photos" competition. We'll be posting the best pictures on the official Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert website next week.

Here's a sneak peak of a picture of the famous waterfall over the side of the castle rock courtesy of George Pomery. If you have any Fireworks pictures you'd like to share then please email them by Wednesday 10 September.

What the Papers Say Today

Only two days to go till the end of the Festival 08 however the press coverage is still as extensive as ever with many new reviews in today's papers.

The announcement of the fireworks starter for the The Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert featured in quite a few of the papers today including The Edinburgh Evening News and The Herald. Competition winner, Morgan Bevis, was also featured on STV.

There is a large feature in The Herald about the Herald Angels, the last batch of which were awarded this morning. Recipients from the EIF programme included Valery Gergiev, the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Ivan Fischer, Matthew Bourne and Vera Alexander who received the Little Devil award. Vera - a long time usher at The Queen's Hall - has already featured in the papers quite a bit recently for rebutting a thief's attempts to steal the takings from the venue's cloakroom.

The Scotsman features a story about a protest that happened at The Queen's Hall yesterday during a performance by the Jerusalem Quartet. The story reports that the protest was ‘countered by a standing ovation'.

There is also some coverage in the Edinburgh Evening News of a cash injection into the King's Theatre which is to be used for a revamp of the venue.

I Went To The House But Did Not Enter
‘The Hilliards bring it off immaculately; as with the whole show, there's not a detail misplaced'. The Guardian****
‘A beautifully presented experience to be savoured'. Edinburgh Evening News****
‘Will seep into the memory for some time to come' The Scotsman*****

Deca Dance 2008
‘This is a show to relish, more than once if at all possible'. Edinburgh Evening News****
‘Deca Dance served as a wonderful introduction to Batsheva's talents.' The Scotsman****

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Ivan Fischer
‘We have a terrific new violin virtuoso among us in the form of József Lendvay Jr...enthralling improvisation...powerhouse performance.' The Guardian*****

Wolpe!
‘A fascinating and vital pointer to festival futures that's to relish.' The Herald****

Jerusalem Quartet
‘This was playing of high expressiveness'
The Herald****
‘This was a brilliant performance by the quartet under trying circumstances, which was rewarded with rapturous applause.' The Scotsman*****

The Whirling Dervishes of Turkey
‘A fascinating performance...solemn yet joyful, it resonated with a compelling calm.' The Herald

Herald Angels - Vera's Victory

It was the last morning of breakfast and bubbles today as the final batch of Herald Angels were dished out at The Festival Theatre. Once again the EIF featured heavily with Valery Gergiev, the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Ivan Fischer, and Matthew Bourne all being honoured with Angels. The Little Cherub award went to Kyna Bowers whose family were delighted when her name was announced. (Kyna is pictured with her award)

However it was the recipient of the Little Devil Award who really stole the show. Vera Alexander, veteran usher at the Queen's Hall, flirted with fame recently when she fought off a criminal who was trying to steal the cloakroom takings. As he stuffed the notes up his top Vera was reportedly grabbing them back. She refused to give an inch and in the end the would be thief ran off with nothing. She had the audience in stitches when she was called up to receive her award saying: 'it's an ugly wee thing isn't it'.

Read the story by the Daily Record here.

New Vid - I Went To The House But Did Not Enter

Hear an interview with EIF Director Jonathan Mills about this production by Heiner Goebbels with music from the Hilliard Ensemble.

Getting Fired Up For The Fireworks

Sunday night's firestarter was revealed today at Edinburgh Castle as pint sized Morgan Bevis, aged nine, from Livingston. The youngster won a competition on Radio Forth to set off the huge display by doing her best impression of the fireworks. As she got acquainted with the all-important button she also met the creative brains behind the fireworks Wilf Scott and Keith Webb. There was a host of media there to witness the event including the BBC and STV so Morgan will no doubt enjoy being a mini celebrity for the next few days. To hear an interview with Morgan (with fireworks impression) and Keith Webb from Pyrovision click here.


The Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert takes place on Sunday 31 August from Edinburgh Castle with music provided by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.