The (EIF) will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2017. For this special celebratory edition, which runs from 4 to 28 August, the event will welcome 2,020 artistsÌýfromÌý40 nationsÌýto perform inÌýScotland’s capital city. Leading the programme for a third year running is Festival Director Fergus Linehan, who announced a dynamic line-up of world-class talent from across the performing arts. The month-long festival was established in 1947 in the aftermath of World War II to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’ through a shared celebration of artistic excellence and cultural exchange.
EIF begins with a free, public outdoor event titled TheÌýStandard Life Opening Event: Bloom. Taking place on 4 August, this large-scale art project celebrates the explosion of colour, vibrancy and optimism that supported the arrival of the International Festival in 1947, and its subsequent cultural influence in Edinburgh and the rest of the world.ÌýThe event brings together illuminations and projections in a central location, produced for the third year byÌý59 Productions, creators of the acclaimed Harmonium ProjectÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýDeep Time.
Featured artists who promote the contemporary relevance of the festival’s founding ideals include British bass-baritoneÌýSirÌýBryn Terfel,Ìýsinger-songwriterÌýJarvis Cocker, conductorÌýRiccardo Chailly, Sitar player and composerÌýAnoushka Shankar, Australian chanteuseÌýMeow Meow and violinistÌýNicola Benedetti. Mercury Prize winnerÌýPJ HarveyÌýwill also make an appearance in two concerts. This marks her return to Edinburgh with herÌýfull nine-piece band, performing tracks from the critically acclaimed album The HopeÌýSix Demolition Project, as well as material from her catalogue.
World-renowned companies and ensembles leading the way for innovation areÌýItalian opera houseÌýTeatro Regio Torino, dance companyÌýNederlands Dans Theater,Ìýthe orchestra of Milan’s opera house La ScalaÌýFilarmonica della Scala and psychedelic-folk legendsÌýThe Incredible String Band. This year will also feature a special season of leading Scottish theatre companies including Citizens Theatre, Royal Lyceum TheatreÌý²¹²Ô»å theÌýTraverse Theatre Company, who all present works that consider the origins of European drama from a contemporary perspective.
Underpinned by the work of Edinburgh-based playwrightÌýZinnie Harris, all three productions (Oresteia: This Restless House, RhinocerosÌý²¹²Ô»å Meet me at Dawn) will examine the fragility of human relationships, society and civilisation. Elsewhere, The Old VicÌýTheatre Company, which performed at the first festival in 1947 and often over the first decade, will return with the world premiere of The Divide from one of the country’s best-loved playwrights,ÌýAlan Ayckbourn.
Two new venues for 2017 will host more theatre. At the Churchill Theatre, Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape is performed by Irish actor Barry McGovern in a new production directed by Michael Colgan, outgoing Artistic Director of Dublin’s Gate Theatre. Meanwhile, the Studio at the Festival Theatre houses two contrasting works – Real Magic from acclaimed Sheffield-based company Forced Entertainment and a late-night residency from Turner Prize-winning artist and performer Martin Creed, whose nightly cabaretÌýWords & MusicÌýfills the venue over three weeks.
The festival will be brought to a close onÌýMonday 28 August with theÌýVirgin Money Fireworks Concert, when over 400,000 fireworks will be choreographed to live music from theÌýScottish Chamber Orchestra.
Edinburgh International Festival, 4-28 August, venues across Edinburgh.
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Credits
1. PJ Harvey, The Hope Six Demolition Project.
