Edinburgh's Festivals celebrate 70th anniversary

Edinburgh's Festivals History of the Festivals Festivals News

In 2017, Edinburgh marked the 70th anniversary of its world-famous festivals, in a year filled with celebrations and special events.

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Since the creation of the first three of its festivals in 1947, the Scottish capital has deservedly become known as the world's leading festival city.

As those original events - the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Film Festival - grew in scale they were joined by a host of others, inspired by their success, ambition and international outlook.

In 1950 came the first Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, utilising Edinburgh Castle's stunning position to present a magnificent spectacle of precision drill and Scottish tradition.

1978 saw the first Edinburgh Jazz Festival, since renamed the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival when blues was successfully added to the mix in the 1980s.

Hot on the heels of the Jazz Festival came 1983's inaugural Edinburgh International Book Festival, original intended as a one-off event, but now the largest of its kind in the world.

In 1989, the city added not only the Edinburgh International Science Festival, the world's first public festival of its kind, but also the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, inspired by the ceilidh tradition of oral folk-tales.

A year later came what is now known as the Edinburgh International Children's Festival, providing a great programme of theatre and other performance art for children and young people.

In 1994, Edinburgh's Hogmanay became a fully organised event, delivering great musical acts, a massive party area and those fantastic midnight fireworks.

And in 2004 came Edinburgh Art Festival, a month-long takeover of dozens of the city's art galleries, museums and public spaces which is now the UK's largest annual celebration of visual art.

It was an amazing 70 years for Edinburgh, with the city's festivals becoming a defining part of how the Scottish capital is seen across the world. We hope you were able to join us in 2017 to be a part of our celebrations!