What’s the collective noun for festivals? Perhaps a word like “explosion” might be appropriate. What happens in Edinburgh in August is not one festival but many, an explosion of arts and culture which really does offer something for everyone, from world-class concerts on the city’s biggest stages to a Fringe performance in a basement room for an audience of one.
But with so much on offer – theatre, films, comedy, art, dance, circus, cabaret, bestselling authors – it’s easy to succumb to becoming overwhelmed. The trick is to dive in – try something new, as well as enjoying plenty of what you love. Here are 20 of my highlights, in no particular order, drawn from across the festivals. Now go and find your own!
The Outrun, Edinburgh International Festival. Image Laurence Winram
The Outrun, Edinburgh International Festival, July 31 – Aug 24, excl 4, 11, 18, Church Hill Theatre
A theatrical dream team has formed around bringing Amy Liptrot’s Orkney memoir to the stage, including director Vicky Featherstone, formerly of National Theatre of Scotland, award-winning playwright Stef Smith and writer and composer Luke Sutherland. Liptrot’s story of addiction and recovery also comes to the big screen this festival (the film, starring Saoirse Ronan, has its UK premiere at the Film Festival on Aug 15-16).
Sir John Lavery, Windy Day, 1907-08, oil on canvas, private collection. Photograph courtesy of the Richard Green Gallery, London
An Irish Impressionist: Lavery on Location, Edinburgh Art Festival, National Galleries of Scotland (ends 27 October)
If you love painting, this major exhibition of the work of Sir John Lavery will be sheer pleasure, as well as a reminder of just how good a painter he was. The show focuses on travel at its most glamorous, to Morocco, the Alps, the Venice Lido, with games of tennis in the sun and cocktails in the shade. It’s like going on holiday without leaving town.
The Sound Inside, Fringe, July 28, Aug 3-25, excl Mondays, Traverse Theatre
Adam Rapp’s two-hander, the story of a creative writing professor and a brilliant, rebellious student, was nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Play when it was staged in the US in 2019. It has its UK premiere at the Traverse, starring Madeleine Potter and The Kite Runner’s Eric Sirakian.
Paul Lynch. Photo Richard Gilligan
Paul Lynch, Book Festival, August 18, Edinburgh Futures Institute
Irish author Paul Lynch won the 2023 Booker Prize with Prophet Song, the story of a woman fighting to hold her family together in a future dystopian Ireland, a book one critic called “a crucial book for our current times”. He is interviewed about his work at the Book Festival by none other than former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Scottish Dance Theatre, ‘Moving Cloud’. Photo Brian Hartley
The Flock and Moving Cloud, Fringe, August 13-25, excl 19, Zoo Southside
Scottish Dance Theatre presents a contrasting double bill of contemporary dance by two leading European choreographers. Roser López Espinosa’s The Flock is inspired by the epic journeys of migratory birds, while Moving Cloud, choreographed by Sofia Nappi, has been described as a “joyful meeting of contemporary dance and Scottish folk music”.
an explosion of arts and culture which really does offer something for everyone
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham sketching, from ‘A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things’, EIFF. Photo David Lewis
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, Film Festival, August 21, Cameo Cinema
Anyone who remembers Mark Cousins’ immersive film installation about Scottish artist Wilhelmina Barns Graham at the Fruitmarket Gallery in 2022 will be delighted to hear that his documentary about Barns Graham has its UK premiere at the Film Festival. Partly narrated by Tilda Swinton, it promises a similar level of insight and deep engagement with her work.
Camille O’Sulllivan: Loveletter, Fringe, July 31 – Aug 17, excl 7, Assembly Roxy
It’s now 20 years since this Irish chanteuse charmed the Fringe with her intimate, heart-breaking style when she appeared as part of Spiegeltent cabaret La Clique. To mark her 20th anniversary at the festival, she pays tribute to absent friends, Shane MacGowan (whose funeral she sang at) and Sinead O’Connor, as well as David Bowie and Leonard Cohen.
Ade Adesina: Intersection, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh Printmakers, ends 10 November
Nigeria-born, Aberdeen-based Ade Adesina has been hailed as one of the leading printmakers working in Scotland today. Ahead of a landmark exhibition of his work in Paris, this show includes his trademark linocuts, addressing issues like the migrant crisis and climate change, as well as sculptural installations and his first prints using colour.
The trick is to dive in – try something new, as well as enjoying plenty of what you love.
Fire In My Mouth, Edinburgh International Festival, Aug 21, Usher Hall (see image at top)
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911 claimed the lives of 146 people, mainly young women. Resident orchestra at EIF, the Philharmonia, conducted by Marin Alsop, worked with the female singers of the National Youth Choir of Scotland to present the UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s work about the disaster, with video designs by Tony Award winner Jeff Sugg.
Margolyes and Dickens: The Best Bits, Fringe, Aug 7-15, Pleasance at EICC
Being 82 is no barrier to bringing a show to the Fringe, especially not if you’re a frank and outspoken national treasure like Miriam Margolyes. In a pairing surely made in heaven, she brings her diverse acting skills to some of Charles Dickens’ most colourful characters, then opens the floor to audience questions, promising she’ll answer anything.
Adjoa Andoh
Adjoa Andoh and Jackie Kay, Book Festival, Aug 24
As well as being old friends, actress Adjoa Andoh and poet Jackie Kay have blazed trails as women of colour across the worlds of theatre, television, film and literature. As both launch books – Andoh’s debut and Kay’s new poetry collection May Day – they meet at the Book Festival for a conversation looking back and looking forwards.
Rebecca Vaughan in Dyad Productions’ ‘A Room of One’s Own‘
A Room of One’s Own, Fringe, Aug 18-25, The Fringe at Prestonfield
Rebecca Vaughan has been highly acclaimed on the Fringe for her one-women interpretations of Virginia Woolf novels Orlando and Mrs Dalloway. This year, she takes on Woolf’s 1928 essay about female creativity, bringing it into the 21st century with an exploration of the history of literature, feminism and gender.
‘Acting’, Edinburgh International Film Festival
Acting, Film Festival, Aug 20, 21, Cameo Cinema, Summerhall, 50 George Square
Ralph Fiennes’ sister Sophie Fiennes was granted rare behind-the-scenes access to leading theatre company Cheek by Jowl, workshopping a production of Macbeth in a derelict mansion near London. The film draws on 64 hours of footage shot in 11 days, and offers an immersive insight into the creative process.
Helen Denerley, ‘Plier Butterfly’, Summerhall
Helen Denerley: Flux, July 26 – September 20, Summerhall
Scottish sculptor Helen Denerley, who created Dreaming Spires, the two giraffes made from scrap metal outside the Omni Centre in Edinburgh, presents a rare exhibition of new work, from butterflies to orangutans. Made entirely with recycled metal, Denerley’s animals have an essence of the living creature, while still revealing the parts which make up the whole. [Please note: The Summerhall exhibitions programme is not part of Edinburgh Art Festival]
Ten Thousand Hours, Fringe, Aug 1-25, excl 12, 19, Assembly Hall
Outstanding Australian contemporary circus company Gravity & Other Myths were last seen in Edinburgh at the International Festival in 2022 where they performed as part of the Opening Event at Murrayfield. Having performed twice at EIF, they are returning to the more intimate scale of the Fringe this year with a show celebrating the skill and discipline of doing what they do.
‘The Last Forecast’. Image Sally Jubb
The Last Forecast, Fringe, Aug 2-18, excl 5, 12, Dance Base
Scottish theatre company Catherine Wheels are leading creators of work for children and young people and have taken their productions all over the world. Dance artist Bridie Gane has worked with them to create this playful two-hander about two eccentric characters trapped on a diminishing island, suitable for viewers age six and up.
Rose Boyt. Photo Stella Boyt
Rose Boyt, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Aug 16
Lucian Freud’s daughter, Rose Boyt, offers a portrait of an artist in her memoir, Naked Portrait. One of the artist’s 15 children, Boyt sat for Freud on three occasions, including for a nude portrait when she was 18. Now a novelist, she draws on her diaries kept during one of the sittings to plumb the depths of a complicated relationship.
‘900 Voices’, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh International Festival
900 Voices, Edinburgh International Festival, Aug 2-25, St Giles Cathedral
For the 900th anniversary of St Giles Cathedral, Aberdeen-based artist Zoe Irvine has created an immersive soundscape of voices and conversations between people from all works of life in Edinburgh. In the cathedral every evening, viewers are invited to explore the atmospheric interior at their own pace. At the Book Festival on August 25, Irvine will discuss how she made the work.
June Carter Cash, ‘The Woman Her Music and Me’. Photo Jess Hardwick
June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me, Fringe, Aug 2-24, excl 5, 12,19, Summerhall
National Theatre of Scotland comes together with leading Scottish theatre company Grid Iron to tell the story of one woman’s love of a country music legend. Writer and performer Charlene Boyd performed as Cash in a tribute band for years before realising how much they had in common. Premiering on the Fringe before a full Scottish tour.
Alexander Chekmenev, ‘Citizens of Kyiv’, ‘Home’, Stills
Home: Ukrainian Photography, UK Words, Edinburgh Art Festival, Aug 2 – Oct 5, Stills
What does “home” mean when your country has become a war zone? Eight contemporary Ukrainian photographers, with contrasting styles and approaches, reflect on the meaning of home. Working in still-life, portraiture and documentary projects, they explore life in Ukraine and among Ukrainians forced from their country by war.
