Build up to the Festival Fireworks

The Edinburgh International Festival, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and sponsor Virgin Money launch Fireworks Fridays, celebrating the build up to the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert – the spectacular annual event which brings Edinburgh’s summer festival season to a close.

There are no graffiti firework designs which have popped up all across the streets of Edinburgh. A competition will run on the Festival facebook and twitter profiles where the first people to send in photos capturing the designs will win tickets to this year’s Concert. Entrants should post their photos on the Festival facebook page, use the hashtag #VMFireworks on twitter or email digital@eif.co.uk.

Three more ‘Fireworks Fridays’ will follow on 15, 22 and 29 August – with further activity around the city and online competitions. Details of these will be available via social media and the Festival website at   where you can find comprehensive information on this year’s event, how to buy tickets and what to expect.

On Sunday 31 August at 9.00pm the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert will bring Festival 2014 to an end in epic style. Over 400,000 fireworks choreographed to live orchestral music will light up the sky against the iconic backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, in what is the largest annual fireworks concert in the world. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Garry Walker performs classic favourites including Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, accompanied by an awe-inspiring display created by international firework artists Pyrovision, headed by Keith Webb. This year Keith celebrates 30 years of working on this much-loved Edinburgh event, having worked on every Festival Fireworks Concert since 1984.

The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert is one of Edinburgh’s favourite annual events, bringing together families, visitors, and communities from across the city and beyond, in the grand finale to Edinburgh’s summer festival season. Last year around 250,000 people gathered in Princes Street and at vantage points around Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians, to share in the spectacle.

Jonathan Mills, Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, said: ‘The magic of the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, continues to make it an unmissable part of the Festival and of life in Edinburgh. We want everyone to join in this spectacular celebration, especially stunning for those who snap up tickets to enjoy the event from Princes St Gardens. ‘Fireworks Fridays’ will count us down to Festival 2014 while heightening everyone’s anticipation for our very special grand finale’.

Virgin Money Marketing Director Paul Lloyd said: ‘Virgin Money is proud to be the official sponsor of the famous Fireworks Concert. It is the biggest event of its kind in the world and it brings everyone together, whether young or old and is enjoyed by the whole family. The Fireworks Concert is always a spectacular conclusion to yet another superb Edinburgh International Festival.’ On Tuesday 29 July, it was announced that the next three years of the Fireworks Concert is secured through a new deal with Virgin Money, signed up to remain title sponsors of the event until 2017.

Roy McEwan, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra said: ‘Fireworks Fridays provide a great reminder to the people of Edinburgh to mark the date of the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert in their diaries. It is always a hugely enjoyable event for our musicians and the audience alike and we are enormously grateful to Virgin Money for their continued support of this event.’

Visit eif.co.uk/virginmoneyfireworks for up-to-the-minute news, features and advice on how to make the best of an evening the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert.

Virgin Money Fireworks Concert

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Garry Walker Conductor

Wagner Ride of the Valkyries

Beethoven Egmont Overture

Mendelssohn War March of the Priests from Athalie

Debussy Marche Écossaise

Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Sunday 31 August 9.00pm

eif.co.uk/virginmoneyfireworks

Sponsored by Virgin Money