Edinburgh International Festival 2018 – full programme now available

The 2018 Edinburgh International Festival was launched at the McEwan Hall this evening by Festival Director Fergus Linehan in tandem with Managing Director Joanna Baker. The beautifully refurbished building is a fabulous venue for such an event with its entertaining space below.

To a packed audience of invited guests and media the full programme of the 2018 festival was unveiled.

Fergus Linehan Festival Director setting out the programme for his fourth festival

And yes there is everything from theatre to opera, from popular music at the new venue of Leith Theatre to full scale orchestral works. All of this will be bookended by an opening night at The Usher Hall and a closing finale with the fireworks and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Joanna Baker Managing Director of Edinburgh International Festival

August will not be a quiet month in the city, and the programme was received by an expectant hushed audience who then enjoyed the mix of speeches and interviews on video. See the trailer below.

Professor Peter Higgs spotted in the audience

Scottish Makar, Jackie Kay’s words have some prominence at the beginning and end of the programme.

She wrote in Threshold : “It takes more than one language….. to tell a story.”

And yes once more at the Edinburgh INTERNATIONAL Festival there will be artists from all over the world speaking a wide variety of languages and all telling a story.

The Rt Hon Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh Frank Ross on the right and the former Lord Provost Councillor Donald Wilson on the left. Councillor Wilson is now Culture Convener and appeared in the films shown at the programme launch.

Here is the full programme :

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMiMyGvYP1w?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&w=696&h=392]