Unmissable events at the 2026 International Festival. 

Mere Mortals
28–30 Aug, Edinburgh Playhouse

San Francisco Ballet presents a provocative myth for the AI age, in their futuristic retelling of Pandora’s Box. Mere Mortals is a fusion of classical technique, cutting-edge visuals and electronic sound.

Composer and electronic musician Floating Points performs his original score live with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. With 40 of the world’s best dancers commanding the stage, this European premiere promises to be a breathtaking spectacle.

Opening Concert: All Rise [TICKETS UNAVAILABLE]
8 Aug, Usher Hall

If you didn't manage to get tickets for the Opening Concert, try JLCO with Yuja Wang.

Trace a journey from classical to jazz and blues, via a New Orleans funeral and the rhythms of a train. This year’s Opening Concert sees 200 performers take to the stage for trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’s monumental 12-movement symphony, All Rise. 

Performed by the world’s premier big band ensemble, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and joined by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers.

The Galloping Cure
9–12 Aug, Festival Theatre

A bold new opera for the opioid age, The Galloping Cure is a haunting allegory for a crisis that has become a worldwide epidemic. Missy Mazzoli weaves club beats into her richly textured score, with a visually stunning and emotionally gripping contemporary fable evoking a darkly funny and devastating vision of a crumbling society.

A Trial – after An Enemy of the People [TICKETS UNAVAILABLE]
7–10 Aug, The Lyceum

A sharp look at authoritarianism, fake news and public judgement.  A Trial – after An Enemy of the People is a modern-day courtroom continuation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic and is the first-time theatrical collaboration between award-winning Brazilian director Christiane Jatahy and Wagner Moura (recent Golden Globe winner and Oscar-nominated actor).

If you missed out on tickets to A Trial, there are plenty more outstanding theatre performances on offer such as Taverna Miresia – Mario, Bella, Anastasia. Discover a surreal tragedy in this visually stunning performance from emerging star of European theatre, Mario Banushi. 

Angels in America
15–20 Aug, King’s Theatre

An epic five-hour staging of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, the epoch-defining work of the AIDS crisis. Taking place on a minimal set accompanied by a David Bowie soundtrack, both parts of the play are combined into a transformative performance by Internationaal Theater Amsterdam in the King’s Theatre. 

Jason Max Ferdinand Singers
10 Aug, The Queen’s Hall

Following their Festival debut in this year’s Opening Concert: All Rise, the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers perform a recital of inventive arrangements of spirituals, folk songs and well-known hymns, reflecting their ethos of championing Black excellence.

Verdi's A Masked Ball
26–30 Aug, Festival Theatre

The UK premiere of Zurich Opera House’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s A Masked Ball comes to the Festival Theatre as a fully staged tragicomic opera. Desire, treachery and political peril await.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Residency
14–15 August, Usher Hall

The influential Gustavo Dudamel conducts the LA Phil in two exhilarating programmes. This is Dudamel’s 17th and final year as the LA Phil’s Music Director – don’t miss the chance to experience their legendary partnership live.

On Frid 14 Aug, the LA Phil are joined by singers from the Los Angeles Master Chorale for a feast of sonic beauty in Beethoven 7 & Ortiz.

On Sat 15 Aug you can experience the dynamically contrasting Beethoven 6 & Adès.

corto.alto
18 Aug, The Hub

Mercury Prize-nominated Scottish jazz artist corto.alto is joined by a collective of outstanding musicians at The Hub. Formally trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and now praised for making jazz popular with Gen Z audiences, his music fizzes with experiments in jazz, electronic music and club culture.   

Ihsane
18–20 Aug, Festival Theatre

A powerful dance work exploring grief, connection and the cycles of destruction and rebirth, by double Olivier Award-winning choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Ihsane honours the cultures of North Africa and the Middle East while confronting cycles of violence and persecution with striking, emotionally charged movement. 

Scottish Ensemble & Brìghde Chaimbeul
23 Aug, The Queen’s Hall

In an evening performance, trailblazing Scottish smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul takes a creative approach to the Scottish Gaelic music tradition. With Scottish Ensemble and filmmaker Jonny Ashworth, they blend new and traditional tunes, electronic sound and bewitching footage of Scottish landscapes.

Clown Show
27-30 Aug, King's Theatre

Theatre-maker Geoff Sobelle brings the European premiere of Clown Show, a contemporary portrait of America as a falling-apart circus. Turning his attention to the American Dream, Sobelle performs alongside a small army of clowns and a live band playing an original score.

See You Soon 💛

A handpicked selection of leading international and local artists comes to the world’s Festival City 7-30 August. We can't wait to see you there.