Various locations across Edinburgh
Created in 1947 to celebrate the human spirit, Edinburgh International Festival is the world’s leading performing arts festival, featuring the finest performers from the worlds of dance, opera, music and theatre. For three weeks each August the city becomes an unparalleled celebration of the performing arts and an annual meeting point for people of all nations.
After 2023 Festival’s posed the question: Where Do We Go From Here?, the 2024 Festival explores the theme Rituals That Unite Us. The programme of live entertainment celebrates the practices, traditions and festivities that give us meaning and connect us.
Running over 24 days and featuring 161 performances from over 2000 artists across 42 nations, audiences can enjoy unique collaborations, world premieres, critically acclaimed productions and more.
Highlights from this year’s programme include the Scottish premiere of Assembly Hall, a new work from four-time Olivier Award-winning Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite and the world premiere of David Ireland’s black comedy, The Fifth Step.
This promises to be a thrilling year for opera lovers too as five operas feature in 2024’s programme, a highlight of which will be the major international staged opera, Carmen, from the Opéra-Comique.
There is an expanded programme of beanbag concerts where audiences can surround themselves in epic music while being immersed amongst the orchestra; a family concert featuring renowned classical violinist and Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti, and a return of the popular post-show talks with artists.
This year the Festival will also collaborate with the World Health Organisation and Scottish Ballet to host the first ever nationwide Healing Arts campaign, Healing Arts Scotland. The week-long activation will begin on 19 August 2024, and will include performances, exhibitions, workshops and high-profile policy discussions.
Marking the start of the Festival, Opening Event: Where to Begin will run across three nights from 02 to 04 August 2024, with the final night audio described and captioned. In a new venue for the Festival, the grounds and architecture of George Heriot’s will come alive with a blend of immersive installation, live performance, music, large-scale video projection and captivating storytelling, celebrating the creative force of the city and the International Festival.
The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 02 to 25 August 2024. Performances take place in a variety of venues across the city, including the Queen’s Hall, Festival Theatre, St Giles’ Cathedral and The Usher Hall.
For more information and to view the full programme, see The Edinburgh International Festival.
