Discover Edinburgh Things to Do in Edinburgh Festivals




EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2022

Edinburgh has been a hotspot for performing arts since the 1940s, a significant period in Edinburgh's history of festivals and marking the early celebrations of the Edinburgh International Festival & Fringe. The city's annual festival calendar has evolved over the last decade or so and now includes the Harp Festival, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and more recently the Interactive Games Festival.

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Running from mid August to early September every year since 1947, The Edinburgh International Festival is the ultimate event attracting thousands of international visitors and hundreds of live performers to this prestigious event. The atmosphere is thrilling with an omnipresence of live music and street theatre straddled along the Royal Mile. This Festival provides visitors and locals with a host of performances featuring internationally renowned artists from the world of Theatre, Comedy, Cinema and Music.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival coincides with the International Festival and has been dubbed as the 'biggest, most free-ranging and free-thinking arts festival in the entire world' and it certainly lives up to its reputation, featuring unique and emerging talents from the world of drama and comedy.

For film and cinema enthusiasts, The Edinburgh Film Festival offers an amazing range of movie premieres and hosts an extensive array of award ceremonies for cutting edge movie directors, producers and actors.

For the bookish and literati, the Edinburgh International Book Festival never fails to enthral avid readers. This festival is the largest of its kind in the world and features guest appearnaces from world leading authors.

Edinburgh's grande finale of the year's festivities is the spectacular Hogmanay Festival featuring an array of dazzling spectacle of fireworks launched from the castle, a plethora of live music with internationally acclaimed artists topping the bill and the world famous street party to celebrate the New Year on New Years Eve. The event lasts for four days across the city and includes the spectacular Torchlight Procession. The event plays host to contemporary and traditional music, pipe bands, street theatre and much more! Accommodation for Edinburgh's Hogmanay Festival must be booked in advance.