Company Affair

While Edinburgh is famous as a tourist destination due to its historic architecture and natural beauty. Known as the “Athens of the North” since the years of the Scottish Enlightenment, Edinburgh is known for its contributions to art, literature, science, and philosophy. Yet, this capital of Scotland is probably known best for its annual Edinburgh Festival.

Actually composed of independent festivals that begin at the end of July and continue through early September. Since summer provides the best weather in Edinburgh, it is no wonder that so many festivals take advantage of the long daylight hours. Visitors attending any or all of the festivals can choose between a variety of accomodations, from Edinburgh bed and breakfasts to five star hotels to youth hostels. There are plenty of options for dining as well, with a variety of restaurants and pubs throughout the city catering to a range of prices and tastes. Since the population of the city doubles during this time, its best to plan well in advance.

The oldest of the Edinburgh festivals is the Edinburgh International Festival, which was established in 1947. This festival highlights the higher brow entertainments. Classical music is provided by world-reknown conductors and international orchestras. The festival also features theater productions with internationally recognized directors and casts.

In recent years the Edinburgh Fringe has taken the crown as the largest and most popular of the festivals. It is now the largest arts festival in the world. In 2006 over 1800 individual shows were staged in over 250 venues around the city. In 2008, a “festival within a festival” was launched when the largest comedy venues banded together to form the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. The popularity of its premiere year made it the largest comedy festival in the world.

Other festivals running at this time include the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Edge Festival ( previously T on the Fringe), the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. In 2006 Tigerfest (an independent music festival) moved to May and in 2008 the Edinburgh International Film Festival moved to June.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Arts, Entertainment, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.