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The Pleasance Courtyard Festival venue, 2013

Edinburgh fringe royal mile street performance

This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

which runs alongside it. The latter is the largest event of its kind in the world. The term ''Edinburgh Festival'' is commonly used, but there is no single festival; the various festivals are put on by separate, unrelated organisations. However they are widely regarded as part of the same event, particularly the various festivals that take place simultaneously in August each year. The term ''Edinburgh Festival'' is often used to refer more specifically to the Fringe, being the largest of the festivals; or sometimes to the International Festival, being the original "official" arts festival. Within the industry, people refer to all the festivals collectively as the ''Edinburgh Festivals'' (plural).

The festivals

Listed in chronological order by 2018 start date, with year of foundation in brackets

April

* Dead by Dawn (1993) * Edinburgh International Science Festival (1988)

Easter time

* Ceilidh Culture (1951)

May

* Edinburgh International Children's Festival (formerly the Imaginate Festival) (1990)

June

Leith Festival The Leith Festival is an arts festival held in the Leith area of Edinburgh and takes place mainly in the EH6 and EH7 postcodes of Edinburgh which cover the old burgh of Leith. It is a community based festival that takes place annually. It is r ...

(1907) * Leith Jazz and Blues Festival * Edinburgh International Film Festival (1947) *

Edinburgh Annuale The Edinburgh Annuale is a visual art festival involving Edinburgh galleries and art projects, especially ones that promote local activity in the visual arts. The Edinburgh Annuale exists to promote grassroots visual arts operations in the city. ...

(2004)

July

Edinburgh International Magic Festival Edinburgh International Magic Festival, also known as MagicFest, is an annual arts festival which takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland in the first week of July each year. MagicFest was founded in 2010 by Magician Kevin McMahon and events organise ...

(2010)
Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival
(1978)

August

* Edinburgh Art Festival (2004) * Edinburgh International Festival (1947) *

(1947) Fringe Facts
. edfringe: Official site of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2005. Accessed 26 June 2005. * Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (1950)
Just Festival
(formerly the Festival of Spirituality and Peace) (2005) * Edinburgh International Book Festival (1983) *

Edinburgh Mela The Edinburgh Mela is an annual multi-cultural festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is one of the 12 festivals that make up the Edinburgh Festival. The first '' mela'', a Sanskrit word meaning "gathering" or "to meet", was held in 1995 at M ...

(1995) * Edinburgh International Television Festival (1976) *

Fringe of Colour Fringe of Colour is an initiative dedicated to supporting people of colour at the Edinburgh festivals, in particular the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2020 and 2021, due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the creative industries, the festival went o ...

(2018)

October

Leith Comedy Festival
(2020) * Africa in Motion (2006) * Scottish International Storytelling Festival (1990) * Festival of Politics (2005) * Edinburgh Horror Festival (2016)

December

* Edinburgh's Hogmanay (1994)

Uncertain dates

* Edinburgh People's Festival (2002, but claims heritage from earlier festival of same name 1951–1954)

Defunct festivals

* Edinburgh Interactive Festival (2003) * Edinburgh International Internet Festival (1999) * Edinburgh Swing Festival (2006) * Fringe Film Festival (1984 - 1990) * Fringe Film & Video Festival (FFVF) (1991 - 1996) *

iFest {{Use British English, date=June 2017 iFest - the Internet Festival and Conference was a festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2007, at the same time as many of the other Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cul ...

(2007) — the Internet Festival and Conference *

West Port Book Festival The West Port Book Festival was a book festival which was held in Edinburgh from 2008 to 2012. Initially it took place in August during the busy Edinburgh Festival season, but later it was held at different times in the year. The idea for the ...

(2008) – a free book festival involving secondhand bookshops in the West Port area

Notes and references

External links

Edinburgh Festival City

Edinburgh Festivals
a guide to the festivals that take place in Edinburgh which are members of Festivals Edinburgh
EdinburghFestivalGuide.co.uk
a comprehensive listing of all (small and large) Edinburgh festivals *
A History of the Edinburgh Festivals

Edinburgh Festival Classroom resourcesNational Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE
(selection of archive films about the Edinburgh Festival) {{Portal bar, Scotland Arts festivals in Scotland Annual events in Edinburgh August events Autumn events in Scotland