The Hub is home to the Edinburgh International Festival offices. Throughout the year, the building is used to host Art of Listening workshops for school children. In the summer it becomes a green room of the Festival with the Main Hall is used as a performance space.
The Hub opens to the public on Wednesday 17 July 2024.
Our box office is open:
17–31 July – Monday to Saturday 11am to 5pm
1–25 August – Monday to Saturday 11am to 5pm (open late on performance nights at The Hub) Sunday 11am to 5pm
If you have a ticketing enquiry, please contact the Box Office via email at [email protected] or by telephone on 0131 473 2000.
Our phone lines are open from 10am–8pm Mon–Sun from 1–25 August.
Built between 1842–1845 to house the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, The Hub was curiously never consecrated as a church, even though it looks like one. Despite this, the building was used by various congregations as a place of worship until 1979.
The building was then renovated as offices and a performance space for the Edinburgh International Festival and renamed 'The Hub' in 1999, when it was ceremonially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Artist Jill Watson decorated the main staircase with over 200 plaster figures on shelves, representing past International Festival performances of dance, music, theatre and opera. The top row shows the audience applauding the performers below.
Image gallery
A gallery carousel of 7 items
Edinburgh International Festival Catriona Price at The Hub
The Hub is located on Castlehill, at the top of the Royal Mile. During August the Lawnmarket and Johnston Terrace are closed to vehicles from 5pm. The closest drop off point is on Victoria Street. The five-minute walk up the hill to The Hub is steep and there are areas of cobbled street, so if you are a wheelchair user or have limited mobility you may want to attend with a companion.
If you are attending a performance at The Hub, we ask that you arrive in plenty of time as latecomers may not be admitted.
There is a complimentary cloakroom facility. Please do not bring bags larger than 30cm x 30cm x 15cm.
Children under the age of 16 must be supervised by a responsible adult.
Please contact us if you have any specific questions about your visit to The Hub.
Your safety and security at International Festival events is of the utmost importance to us. Please note that bags may be subject to security searches. If you spot anything suspicious during your visit to the International Festival, please do let a member of the team know.
Edinburgh is very compact, which makes it ideal to explore on foot or by bicycle. See below for information about getting to the venue.
Due to road closures around The Hub during evening performances, we are running a pre booked Access Shuttle bus for anybody who may face difficulties as a pedestrian, in navigating the hills and/or crowds. Find out more about the Access Shuttle
During August the streets around The Hub are closed to vehicles from 5pm. The closest drop off point is on Victoria Street. The journey to The Hub from Victoria Street to The Hub is 0.2 miles but is uphill all the way and involves some cobbled streets.
Due to these road closures around The Hub during evening performances, we are running a pre booked Access Shuttle bus for anybody who may face difficulties as a pedestrian, in navigating the hills and/or crowds. Find out more about the Access Shuttle
The area outside The Hub can be extremely busy with tourists and may take people with mobility access requirements longer to navigate.
There is no dropped curb near The Hub main entrance. The nearest level access route is to travel part way up Castlehill until the road and pavement become level with each other, and then head back down the pavement to The Hub.
The ramped entrance from the street into The Hub courtyard is quite steep. The least steep approach is from the Castlehill side, so you are travelling downhill before you meet the ramp.
There is level access from the courtyard to the Ground Floor and Box Office
Box Office has a lowered counter and seating available
Additional seating is also available in the Ground Floor hallways
Platform lift to / from Ground Floor to Sculpture Gallery:
Due to the constraints of the building, the turning circle for this lift is only 1400mm X 1050mm
The platform lift entrance has a width of 930mm and has a weight limit of 250kg
There is passenger lift access between Sculpture Gallery, First Floor, Main Hall Balcony. The passenger lift has a weight limit of 800kg.
The First Floor has level access between the lift and Main Hall, and there is a platform lift available to get up the two steps into the Dunard Library
Sensory Access
Hearing Loop available in the Box Office and Main Hall – set your hearing aid to the T setting. There is no Hearing Loop available in the Dunard Library
Most areas have low levels of lighting
The Box Office has a bit of an echo
Event Access
There are wheelchair spaces available in the Main Hall, please book via the Access Pass to reserve one of these spaces.
Main Hall Balcony does not have level access – there are 5 steps down to the balcony area
Where an event has BSL interpretation, there will be signs identifying the seats with the best sight lines
Where an event has captions, the captioning unit will be hung in the rear/centre of the stage area, with good sight lines from most seating areas
All events at The Hub this year are operating with a Relaxed approach, where people are welcome to leave and re-enter at any time throughout the event
Amenities Access
There are multiple accessible toilets, located across all levels
Assistance dogs are welcome and can be looked after by venue staff