Edinburgh International Festival 2020 – watch online for now

The 2020 Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) may have been cancelled, but the desire to create is very much alive.

There is now a variety of films available now for you to watch at your leisure.

All the major Scottish national companies, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera as well as independent artists including Laurence Power, Aidan O’Rourke, Honeyblood and Breabach have made a new series of original digital content with the EIF.

The films were launched on BBC Scotland TV, Edinburgh International Festival’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, with a one-hour gala programme celebrating the Festival City and featuring Alan Cumming, Fiona Shaw, Anna Meredith and Akram Khan.

Edinburgh’s iconic venues across Edinburgh were lit by beacons of light at would have been the opening weekend of the 2020 summer festival season.

The films were created in Edinburgh Festival Theatre, The King’s Theatre, Leith Theatre, The Hub, Usher Hall and The Queen’s Hall in recent weeks.

From 10–28 August 2020 the activity continues with a chamber music soundscape in Princes Street Gardens each lunchtime from Monday to Friday. Each 40-minute specially recorded chamber music performance will be audible throughout the gardens, allowing socially distanced audiences to enjoy the music whilst having a picnic or taking a walk. Artists will include Mark Padmore, Angela Hewitt, Dunedin Consort and the Hebrides Ensemble.

Videos of the full concert series, recorded behind closed doors in The Hub, will be released on the Edinburgh International Festival YouTube channel. Highlights from the concert series will be broadcast on Classic FM in a special edition of The Classic FM Concert with John Suchet and streamed on the station’s Facebook page.

The Edinburgh Festival Chorus features in the International Festival’s summer activity with a brand-new recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. From their own homes, over 120 chorus members have rehearsed and recorded their parts for two movements of Orff’s iconic masterpiece. The recordings and videos have been mixed together until the unmistakable grandeur of ‘O Fortuna’ and hopeful energy of ‘Ecce Gratum’ are recreated in all their richness. The two films premiere on Edinburgh International Festival’s YouTube channel on 8 August. 

Highlights from the Festival’s archives will be celebrated by a series of five Usher Hall concerts including Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Verdi Requiem and Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst and Joela Jones. These will sit alongside the 15 concerts from The Queen’s Hall between 10–28 August on BBC Radio 3 as part of BBC Arts Culture in Quarantine. The Queen’s Hall Series includes pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly, Trio Zimmermann and Les Vents Français. Full details can be found on the Festival’s website.

Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener, said: “Since the very beginning our festivals have fought against all odds – acting as a beacon of hope to unite people from all over Europe after the Second World War. Over the last 73 years they have turned a small city like Edinburgh into the world’s biggest stage and, while we have to do things very differently this year, they will continue to light up our City and our screens. 

“The festival organisers have very creatively designed a programme which will bring audiences from across the world together to enjoy a one-of-a-kind celebration of culture, proving that Edinburgh’s festival spirit shines on. Of course, it will be tempting to watch displays live and in person, so we’ll be encouraging everyone to stay indoors or at a safe distance. This August, the best festival views are to be found at home.”