How old is edinburgh festival

Records show that some 20, children and their accompanying adults watched 75 performances of 12 main-stage shows, with theatre companies travelling from Zimbabwe, Canada and the Netherlands. Following the successful delivery of an open air public event in Edinburgh to mark the European Summit of , Unique Events was asked to offer a report, which proposed a properly managed event at the end of the year in Edinburgh. This template was realised in with Princes Street becoming the focus of the new year's eve celebrations.

In this year the Book Festival changed from a biennial to an annual festival, reflecting the growing interest in live literary events for adults and children. And taking part in the children's programme was a young writer who read from her debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, to a small group of c20 children. Little did she or the Book Festival know that the spell cast that day would reverberate around the world.

One of the unexpected attractions of the Fringe in was a preview of the world's first mobile media phone - a Nokia e using the Orange network to access the internet through WAP Wireless Application Protocol technology. Access was exclusively to the Fringe's website event listings, with production models in October having fuller internet access. The Festival was created to ensure that the visual arts had a prominent place alongside the other summer festivals.

Produced as an insert in the Scotland on Sunday, the Festival Guide promoted 23 art spaces, galleries and museums across the city as well as articles introducing the festival, its ethos and features exploring the exhibitions making up its inaugural year.

The Scottish Storytelling Centre, the world's first purpose built modern centre for live storytelling, was formally opened on 1 June , replacing the former Netherbow Arts Centre and incorporating the historic John Knox House. In the process of combining the 15th to 20th Century structures, areas of ancient walls and founds were uncovered, recorded, and in some cases presented as features of the new building.

The Tattoo's royal connections are long held, with the event chosen to mark the end of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in [see picture]. Quantifying cultural, social and environmental effects, the study set new standards of best practice in the international events sector - and was updated in July Edinburgh Festivals Menu. Jump to 'Be part of it' signpost Be part of it See the festivals. There were plenty of problems to be surmounted. One of the first issues was the logistics of dealing with large numbers of visitors to the city.

Hotels were requisitioned; hostels and student residences used; plus 6, beds were made available by private households. The Assembly Rooms in George St. There was also the question of venues. The Council owned the Usher Hall but other venues were in private hands, and none of the venues was technically well equipped.

Then there was the problem of getting high calibre artists to appear. Associated events included pipes and dancing on the Castle Esplanade, a forerunner of the Tattoo. In addition to the International Festival, two other important events took place. Firstly, a weeklong film festival was organised by the Edinburgh Film Guild, eventually to become known as the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Secondly, eight theatre groups arrived uninvited, and although officially excluded from the festival, they set up shop in venues away from the official festival and did their own thing.

This was the start of the Edinburgh Fringe. Overall, the festival was judged to be a success despite complaints that a number of areas were inadequately covered, viz.

There are a number of interconnected strands that run through the history of the Edinburgh International Festival EIF : the individual arts and the competition between them; the ideas of the various artistic directors which were obviously influenced by their individual tastes; funding and politics the two go together as much of the subsidy came from the City Council ; the use of themes in certain years; ongoing problems surrounding the availability of suitable venues; and last but not least, attempts at trying to compete with the Fringe.

Arguably, the primary reason for this has been the passions of the individual artistic directors. Apart from Frank Dunlop in the s who was a theatre man and Fergus Linehan, the current director who started in the theatre, all the directors have had a music or opera background.

Rudolf Bing As discussed, the main instigator of the EIF. He is arguably best known for his contacts in the artistic world. It was during his regime that the visual arts were accorded more exposure. After leaving Edinburgh he founded various festivals around the UK, including Bath and Brighton, and advised on festival planning around the world. During the s he was chairman of the English National Ballet. Robert Ponsonby was an Oxford organ scholar and subsequently controller of music for the BBC.

He introduced late night revues such as Flanders and Swann and Beyond the Fringe in an attempt to compete with the Fringe in the evenings. The Earl of Harewood aimed to give opera a higher profile.

It is reasonable to say that prior to his regime the EIF was still in its honeymoon period. During his tenure matters became more noticeably difficult on the financial front. The concept of themes started during his tenure with a Russian theme in and a Czech theme in Also, the commissioning of playwrights to write for the festival commenced under his regime.

He cancelled a show in after its first performance because he considered it to be substandard. Peter Diamand was a music man. He was director of Holland music festival prior to taking the Edinburgh post and became the general director of the Royal London Philharmonic Orchestra after he left Edinburgh. He wanted to have an EIF company and mount Festival productions; he succeeded in the latter. John Drummond was more eclectic in his tastes than the other directors with the possible exception of the visual arts.

He encouraged the Book Fair , subsequently to become the Book Festival. Frank Dunlop was a theatre man. He had to battle with the Labour-dominated city council for a significant part of his tenure, particularly with their desire to reduce elitism and promote more populist events all the year round, not just during August.

Brian McMaster came from an opera background. His objectives were to: reduce fringe-style events, particularly in the field of drama; present high quality, large scale performances that Fringe groups could not afford; place a tighter control on quality, partly by insisting on EIF organised and promoted events; and reflect the best of Scottish culture.

Jonathan Mills is an Australian and another music man. His CV includes the composition of two small operas and artistic director of the Melbourne Festival. He was given a 5 year contract which was subsequently extended to In general, he was a keen advocate of festival themes. Fergus Linehan took over as artistic director after the festival. Bing was correct in his assertion that Edinburgh would have the festival field to itself while Europe recovered from the devastating effects of World War II.

This relative lack of competition helped to shape the Edinburgh experience in the areas of music and opera as it became a magnet for the leading figures and companies. Apart from British companies the appearance of the New York Philharmonic in was one of the early coups. Popular solo artists included: Kathleen Ferrier who sang in all six festivals before her early death in , Teresa Berganza and Maria Callas.

It consisted solely of amateurs. Petersburg Philharmonic as part of the Dvorak theme Several attempts have been made to prevent the programme from becoming stale, notably by Drummond in the early s. This continued with the introduction of more contemporary work by McMaster, e. Opera has often been caught in the middle between the devotees who inevitably crave the best performances with star names and those favouring other art forms who generally consider that opera is expensive and does not provide value for money, although the advent of concert opera opera without costumes, scenery or an entire opera company has gone some way to blunt this criticism.

Over and above these elements, both performers and audience have undoubtedly been affected by the intoxicating atmosphere of the overall festival. This chemistry between performers and audience has continued up to the present day. There is something about the audiences at the Edinburgh Festival that make the performers want to put on their best show.

I think there is an aura of excitement, enthusiasm, and appreciation at Edinburgh from both the performers and audiences that is unmatched anywhere else. While there are many other outstanding festivals there is an intimacy and shared experience at Edinburgh that is not evident elsewhere. I have gone to many other performances with great artists at the best concert halls, and often the performers seem to be just going through the motions.

This has never happened to me in Edinburgh. The artists seem to be there because they truly choose to do so as artists. They seem to feel the same excitement about being with so many great artists, such enthusiastic audiences, and just seem to be enjoying themselves as well just doing what the rest of us are doing when not performing.

Another remarkable thing about Edinburgh is the wonderful opportunity to see the beginning of so many wonderful professional careers. The artistic director is very adept in identifying the very best of new, young performers and it is an opportunity to see them at a stage before they become spoiled or too seasoned.

Dance has experienced something of a roller coaster ride in terms of exposure over the years, alternating good and bad periods that have possibly corresponded to criticisms of the lack of dance on the one hand with complaints that it was too expensive on the other.

There was a gradual shift with the introduction of more contemporary dance performances with Martha Graham in the sixties, Twyla Tharp who first appeared in , and the Australian Dance Theatre with their innovative Flibbertigibbet in when 13 dancers appeared in boiler suits.

The lack of attention that has been generally accorded to drama has been highlighted by many critics over the years. Some directors have been accused of having little or no interest in the form. While it is somewhat facile to generalise, it is probably fair to say that, over the piece, the Fringe has a better track record on drama, helped immeasurably by the fact that the Traverse Theatre, apart from six appearances on the EIF, has been on its side of the fence.

However, there have been some great successes at the EIF, albeit less than might be expected. After the criticism that it was not represented at the first festival, the visual arts enjoyed a golden period in the s when it received considerable attention. Thereafter, it was pushed to the sidelines and exposure tended to wax and wane although the Epstein exhibition in was a huge success.

Funds were curtailed in and there followed periods when it was treated as an associate, that is it simply appeared in the programme. The concept of a separate Art Festival was eventually introduced in as the visual arts sought a separate identity. Mills started his tenure by reintroducing a visual arts strand, including Jardins Publics in the programme, installations sited at three locations around the city.

However, a reduced programme in was a precursor to an empty Supplementary events that may appeal to the aficionados have varied over the years. Examples include lunchtime talks and late afternoon conversations with artists.

As mentioned above, themes have been used periodically over the years in attempts to provide a degree of coherence across the programme. They invariably meet with mixed receptions: some applaud the idea while others consider that in fact the overall quality of the programme suffers because of the attempt. Jonathan Mills reintroduced themes during his tenure, including: Artists without Borders in , The Enlightenment in , The New World in focusing on the Americas and Australasia and Asian influences in The availability of suitable venues was a perennial problem for the EIF.

In the Edinburgh Playhouse cinema, a huge building with over 3, seats which was opened in , was being investigated as a possible venue but it was considered too expensive to convert at the time.

It closed as a cinema in , and it was eventually used as a venue for the first time in Meanwhile, the general situation had deteriorated in the mids when the Empire became a bingo hall while the Kings Theatre, the default home of opera, was becoming an annual problem, exacerbated by criticisms from artists that it was too small.

Matters came to a head when Professor Liebermann Hamburg Opera criticised it in The owners Howard and Wyndham retaliated by saying that they would no longer make it available to the EIF.

This was a disused church that was converted to become the home of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. There had been tentative plans, going back to , to build a Festival Theatre. In Rank sold the Empire to the Council after a less protracted saga.

In the s and early 50s funding had not been particularly noticeable as an issue. However, the financial pressures gradually mounted as these subsidies lessened. Other factors included the increasing ease of travel, which naturally increased the amount of competition and the counter-attractions of recording, July to September being the peak period for this activity.

The problem was resolved on this occasion when the Council bought the festival office. However, it became a recurring theme with the first stand-off between director and the Council occurring in when the latter wanted to reduce the subsidy for and , while the director, stating that it was not possible to produce a quality festival for that sort of money, said that he was not prepared to organise it on that basis.

The Council eventually backed down. Opera, the most expensive art form, was frequently under the spotlight. In a proposed staging of Don Giovanni was under the microscope. In this particular case the risks proved to be exaggerated. The price to be paid for increased subsidy from the City Council was greater political representation on the Festival Council, which in turn led to a degree of political pressure over the programme. In the s Labour councillors, considering the festival to be too elitist, pushed for the inclusion of more populist events.

The politicians were occasionally put on the back foot. During the festival they were put on the defensive when Glasgow announced that it was doubling its grant to the arts. This was followed in by an incident when Dunlop got himself into hot water through nonchalantly mentioning at a press conference that Edinburgh might benefit from closer ties with Glasgow, which was due to be the European city of culture for One Tory councillor wanted him to consider his position. In fact, Edinburgh had put in its own half-hearted bid to be European city of culture and consequently lost out to Glasgow.

This was a severe blow to its pride and caused the politicians to reconsider their attitude to the Festival and its funding. In part, this episode resulted in the District Council and the Arts Council agreeing to a guaranteed funding over a three year period. Lothian Regional Council was also interested in renewing support. Details of expenditure are not generally made available. The Fringe has generally been something of a thorn in the side of the International Festival although the pain is somewhat imaginary and largely unwarranted.

It tended to reside more in the minds of those members of the Festival board who dislike any form of competition. Fortunately, at the artistic level there was a much more laissez faire attitude towards the Fringe. Whatever, the EIF has made various efforts over the years to compete with the Fringe, some of which have been very successful.

The EIF was largely a daytime and early evening pastime, leaving the Fringe to mop up the late evening with light entertainment shows. Beyond the Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, all relatively unknown at the time, was a late night revue that was hugely successful and has been claimed to be a key forerunner to the subsequent boom of satire in the s. It is somewhat ironic that many people now think that the show was on the Fringe, simply because the name appears in the title.

A successful Writers Conference in , which included people who were more associated with the Fringe, was followed by a Drama Conference in the following year. This caused a storm and John Calder, who organised both the Writers and Drama conferences, and the model were prosecuted for indecency. Obviously, the swinging sixties had not yet arrived in Edinburgh at this point. Ideas for a Poetry Conference were shelved with finance being given as the reason although it is more likely that it was related to this incident as various councillors were unhappy.

It had an orgy in the final scene with three nuns naked from the waist upwards. The Lord Provost and two councillors went to Frankfurt on a jolly to see it for themselves.

After being wined and dined before the performance it was claimed in the media that at least one councillor dozed through part of the performance. The production was given their seal of approval. In the same year there were some events of note at the Haymarket Ice Rink. Meanwhile, Orlando and his knights, mounted on horseback well trolleys actually , charged at the audience, scattering them — promenading with a difference! Attempts to compete with the Fringe were reduced when Brian McMaster took over the reins as artistic director in This was probably a prudent step.

The time and effort that is attributable to fund-raising must be disheartening for any director whose soul lies in the art rather than in administrative functions and the inevitable politics. It arguably makes it a thankless task; we should all be grateful for the work that they put in, notwithstanding that individual programmes may not necessarily square with our own desires.

Six of the eight companies were Scottish and the Fringe — which did not yet have that name — was known as the semi-official element of the festival. The history of the Fringe needs to be viewed from a number of perspectives: its general organic growth, including the necessary logistical and administrative processes; the obvious and sometimes quirky venues that have been used; most importantly, the art forms that it has supported over the years; relations with the EIF; its reputation; and the inexorable spreading of fringe theatre and festival concepts.

Performing groups operated totally independently in the early years. The first sign of any communal activity occurred in when Edinburgh University students opened a drop-in centre at 25 Haddington Place. This was used by many Fringe performers as it provided cheap food and a bed for the night. They close with the wit and bright colours of Walton's triumphant Second Symphony.

Click for more information. On Saturday 24 November , the plan for an International Festival in Edinburgh was announced in three newspaper articles in The Scotsman and the Evening Dispatch, which later became the Evening News. An avalanche of letters from Edinburgh residents arrived on editors' desks, both for and against the notion of a festival.

Most people enthusiastically favoured the idea. An article in The Scotsman in which announced the plans for the Edinburgh International Festival. Photo: Courtesy of The Scotsman archive.

The inaugural Edinburgh International Festival was a pivotal time in the career of Bruno Walter, one of the world's greatest 20th century conductors, and a close friend of Gustav Mahler. Walter had endured anti-Semitic attacks culminating in Nazi blacklisting and violence, at a time when he also suffered dramatic personal tragedy.

But in Edinburgh he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in an emotional post-war reunion. In , his daughter, Gretel, was murdered by her husband in a jealous frenzy over her affair with the Italian bass, Ezio Pinza.

They had only met because Walter had made special efforts to entertain Pinza to persuade him to sing Don Giovanni. Grief struck, Walter's wife fell into a depression and died. Walter blamed himself for the whole tragedy. Yet throughout, he continued to lead world-class orchestras, even conducting five orchestras in the US after fleeing Nazi persecution. Walter had first conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in and had regularly performed with them with increasing hostility from Hitler until the early s.

When the Orchestra had been colonised by the Nazis, some of his colleagues had not survived their attention.