Festival fever grips Edinburgh
One of the biggest events in the arts calendar was due to be launched tomorrow as festival fever continued to grip Scotland’s capital city.
The Edinburgh International Festival will bring big names from the worlds of theatre, opera, classical music and dance to a city already brimful of talent thanks to the presence of the Fringe and Book Festivals.
Highlights look set to include a rare staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle by Scottish Opera, tickets for which sold out last year.
Sales for an all-star production of Chekhov’s The Seagull, starring Fiona Shaw and Iain Glen, are already very healthy, as are those for appearances by the San Francisco Ballet and pianists Alfred Brendel and Andras Schiff.
Productions of Handel’s Poro, featuring celebrated tenor Ian Bostridge and Strictly Dandia, described as an Asian West Side Story, are also playing as part of the festival, which runs until August 30.
This year, organisers have announced a series of new initiatives designed to attract new and younger audiences.
The Gateway Weekend will allow people under 26 to see big name events including The Seagull for free for two days at the start of the festival.
Some performances will also be scheduled for the early evening in a bid to draw in people as they leave work.
A limited number of £5 tickets will also be on sale in an extension of a scheme piloted last year.
Festival director Brian McMaster said: “Our programme offers an increasingly wide audience an opportunity to experience some of the world’s leading artists and most interesting works.
“Attracting new audiences to try out new experiences, as well as seasoned festival-goers, is one of the key objectives of the festival.
“We hope that the programme and these initiatives will enable more people than ever to experience the festival.”.
The International Festival was established in 1947, when performance included Kathleen Ferrier, Margot Fonteyn and Alec Guinness.
Also getting under way today was the Edinburgh People’s Festival, which spurns City centre venues in favour of staging shows on housing estates.
Festival organisers, who include the Scottish Socialist Party and trade unions, have pegged ticket prices at £2 as a reaction against what they say are excessively high prices at the Fringe.
The People’s Festival was first set up 50-years ago by artists including Hugh Macdiarmid and Ewan McColl.
This year, it features over 50 entertainers with the opening event taking place at the Jack Kane Centre in the Craigmillar district of the city and featuring classical string quartet Capriccio.
More cut price fun was on offer in the form of Fringe Sunday, the annual free showcase for acts on the Fringe which this year features over 200 performers including comedian Adam Hills.
The event which is expected to attract a crowd of over 150,000, takes place on the Meadows and, as well as nine performance tents, also includes a farmer’s market, funfair and workshops.
