Explore what Edinburgh’s festivals have in store this August.

It has been inspiring to see so many of our sister festivals finding ways to bring audiences the cultural activity they need more than ever in these difficult times. The August festivals including Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Art Festival and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo have overcome obstacles and come up with creative new projects, distanced installations and digital events that recreate the Festival City buzz safely. At Edinburgh International Festival we have been lucky enough to collaborate with some of these friends on both My Light Shines On and the Faces of the Edinburgh Festivals – read on for more about this exciting project with Festivals Edinburgh.

Below are some of the highlights of the Edinburgh festival’s 2020 offerings and where you can find out more.

Edinburgh Art Festival
30 July–30 August

Edinburgh Art Festival have invited ten artists from previous festival editions to mark the dates of what would have been their 2020 Festival. Artists include Tam Joseph, Hanna Tuulikki, Rosalind Nashashib and Peter Liversidge, whose Flags for Edinburgh are already flying around the City including at our home, The Hub on Castlehill. The programme combines archival presentations, which have been chosen for their resonance with the current local and global contexts, with specially conceived responses. The selection includes online screenings and live performances, available via the Edinburgh Art Festival website alongside a small number of projects appearing in public sites around the City.

The broad selection of artworks seeks to reflect on the profound personal and societal impacts of this global pandemic. Artists explore new ways of communicating and being together; confront the urgent inequalities in our society and imagine new futures.

Visit edinburghartfestival.com to explore the full programme.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe
7–31 August

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe are inviting audiences to #MakeYourFringe this summer with a broad programme including hundreds of artist and venue streams, a weekly digital cabaret and festival favourites in your front room. A festival-wide crowdfunding campaign, FringeMakers, supports Fringe artists and venues to raise vital funds by giving them the opportunity to sell tickets to a weekly livestreamed variety show – Fringe on a Friday. The resulting 60-minute digital variety show features nine artists every Friday, act confirmed so far include Daniel Sloss, Courtney Act and David O’Doherty. The Fringe Pick N Mix allows artists to upload 60-second films of themselves in action – from snippets of what would have been 2020 shows to snappy set pieces staged in the shed – for viewers to watch or settle in to watch, with the ability to interact and comment on the videos. A series of over 30 workshops, panel discussions and networking sessions aim to recreate some of the Fringe’s development opportunities for artists.

Visit edfringe.com to explore the full programme and buy tickets now.

Edinburgh International Book Festival
15–31 August

This year, Edinburgh International Book Festival are inviting authors and audiences from around the world to ‘Keep the Conversation Going’ with more than 140 digital events for adults and children for free on their website. The programme includes live conversations, discussions, readings and draw-alongs featuring 200 authors and illustrators from over 30 countries including Hilary Mantel, Arundhati Roy, David Mitchell, Bernardine Evaristo, Elif Shafak, Marian Keyes, Alexander McCall Smith and Ali Smith.

Both live and pre-recorded conversations are on offer, plus innovative features to receate the festival experience including audience chat rooms, Q&A sessions, an online Festival bookshop and opportunities for audiences to meet the author to have their book signed.

Visit edbookfest.co.uk to explore the full programme.

Faces of the Edinburgh Festivals

The Edinburgh International Festival, in partnership the August festivals – Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo – are shining a light on those working hard behind the scenes to create the unique buzz felt in Edinburgh each August.

The cancellation of the summer festivals as they were originally planned in 2020 had a substantial impact, not only on artists and performers, but on every aspect of Edinburgh life. It seems more important than ever to celebrate those who contribute to the festivals in unseen ways, to shine a light on the scale of teamwork required to make Edinburgh the Festival City. Faces of Edinburgh Festivals shares the previously untold stories of the countless individuals who work tirelessly to make the festivals happen, from local business owners to technical crew, designers, administrators, waiters, taxi drivers, and city residents.

Of course, the festivals wouldn’t be complete without the audience, so we want to hear your stories too. Get online and share your story of the Edinburgh Festivals using the hashtag #edfests

Visit edinburghfestivalcity.com/faces to read the stories so far.