Environment Shows at the Edinburgh Festivals 2025

The busiest time of year in the capital of Scotland is almost upon us, and the excitement is palpable. Throughout August, Edinburgh welcomes people to experience the magic of the numerous festivals taking place across the city. The streets, theatres and galleries come alive with performances, shows, talks and exhibitions during one of the largest cultural celebrations worldwide.

For those of you looking to be immersed in the world of arts and sustainability, we’ve compiled a list of 20 shows that share the themes of the environment, climate change, climate anxiety, and much more. From hopeful, immersive or experimental plays and imagined science fiction futures, to insightful book talks by recently published authors, there’s something for everyone - from Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Edinburgh International Film Festival.

1.       Climate Change Theatre Action 2025 [Lochend Close, Canongate] - Venue 13 hosts a special series of CCTA plays, marking 10 years of bold, climate theatre. Across 20 events, audiences will experience a curated selection of short plays including 40 of the audience’s favourites from the past festivals, alongside 10 new works in a final set of commissions. This international showcase brings together artists, activists and change-makers to explore the climate crisis through urgent and inventive storytelling.

2.       Cacica Juma Xipaia: Standing Up [Edinburgh Futures Institute] - At just 24, Cacica Juma Xipaia became the Middle Xingu region's first female Chief, but when she uncovered government corruption in 2017, she was forced to flee Brazil. Xipaia later became the first Xipaya representative to speak at the United Nations, going on to establish Instituto Juma which campaigns for the protection of the rainforest and the autonomy of Indigenous peoples. We're honoured to welcome this inspiring leader today, talking about her fight against environmental devastation and for the rights of her people.

3.       Louise Gibson: Beachheads [Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop] - Beachheads unfolds as a series of monumental sculptures crafted from discarded industrial and household materials that speak eloquently of the excesses and wastefulness of contemporary consumer culture. The works draw attention to our complicity in the relentless cycles of production and disposal — and the environmental and social consequences they entail. Each work appears as a series of dualities — waste and renewal, domestic and industrial, hard and soft, interior and exterior, moving fluidly between states, embodying both energies at once.

4.       Works and Days [Lyceum Theatre] - FC Bergman's latest piece reckons with what is lost when our bond to the earth fades. Birth, life and death converge at the heart of this visually spectacular performance, as theatre collective FC Bergman seeks the truth about our place in the wider world. Their latest wordless piece blends stunning imagery, movement and music to explore our connection with the land we inhabit. The ingenious set design exposes the actors to all the elements – from fire to water.

5.       Novak [various venues] - An ostracised Croation neuroscientist is drawn out of hiding in Athens by an activist group of idealistic young scientists fascinated by his previously discredited theories about electromagnetic pollution. The film is fuelled by a grungy, lo-fi, sci-fi energy as it takes its swerving turns, offset by a disarmingly surreal sense of place. An offbeat, intriguing exploration of idol worship, consumerism and non-conformity in the modern world, this is dark, unpredictable and humourous in equal measure.

6.       Up-cycle Music [main house at C ARTS] - The number one Google search term for 2022 was climate-change – the first time that it ranked as a comprehensive yearly search term. Creative art, from the Republic of Korea, are kick-starting a response from a uniquely artistic perspective. They use waste to make music – cellos from abandoned equipment from rural areas, stringed instruments of thrown away plastic toys – and compose piano songs based on the characteristics of endangered animals, to ask vital questions about the climate crisis.

7.       Robert Macfarlane: Is A River Alive? [Edinburgh Futures Institute] - Robert Macfarlane's radiant writing on nature, people, and place is in a class unto itself, and the Guardian has slated Is a River Alive? as the biggest publishing event of 2025. This passionate, perspective-shifting treatise revives the idea that rivers are living beings and should be treated as such. Macfarlane will discuss 'thirsty notebooks', rivers as co-authors, and writing his most personal and political book to date.

8.       Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years [National Galleries Scotland] - Based in Scotland, Goldsworthy (born 1956) is internationally famous for his extraordinary work with natural materials. This exhibition showcases over 200 works including photographs, sculptures and expansive new installations built in-situ. Goldsworthy will also create several major new works onsite. Sure to be one of the most talked-about exhibitions of the year – showing only in Edinburgh.

9.       Book of Mountains and Seas [Lyceum Theatre] - Ancient Chinese myths inspire Huang Ruo's opera, confronting humanity's complex relationship with nature. Huang Ruo, one of the most exciting figures of contemporary opera, reimagines ancient Chinese myths, first transcribed in the fourth century BC, through the lens of today’s environmental challenges. This 21st-century adaptation explores our complex relationship with the natural world, blending music, puppetry and mythology to reflect on humanity’s role as caretakers of the Earth.

10.    Once You Shall Be One Of Those Who Lived Long Ago [various venues] - An affecting, gorgeously crafted documentary about the remaining people in Malmberget in north Sweden, a small town slowly collapsing into the mines beneath it. As residents reflect on the once vibrant community, the town itself is gradually dismantled around them. Haunting, reflective and deeply cinematic, this is a dignified and thoughtful rumination on change, loss and grief alongside the strength of community and the resilience of the natural world.

11.    Sunil Amrith: The Burning Earth [Edinburgh Futures Institute] - In The Burning Earth, environmental historian at Yale University and MacArthur Genius fellow Sunil Amrith creates an ambitiously complete history of the way 500 years of human development has driven environmental change and destruction. From empires and their colonisation of the globe, coal mining to oil extraction, and the legacy of 20th century wars, he'll reveal today the full cost of the journey from there to here.

12.    Journey to the Moon [Surgeon’s Hall] - Join an engaging adventure where kids become heroes tackling climate change. Through interactive missions, they’ll learn the importance of protecting Earth and take action to create a sustainable future. The journey includes thrilling moon exploration and a battle against the greedy Moon Man, testing courage and ingenuity. Fun and inspiring, this experience empowers children to act and make a difference for the planet.

13.    Fautus in Africa! [Lyceum Theatre] - Through puppetry and animation, Handspring Puppet Company reimagine Faust's downfall and reframe the classic tale to confront colonialism and the climate emergency. Directed by William Kentridge, this bold re-working of the Handspring Puppet Company’s multi-award-winning 1995 production combines puppetry with Kentridge’s celebrated animations. It follows Faustus on a reckless journey through greed and excess, set on an African safari. The haunting score, featuring Warrick Sony and the late James Phillips, ramps up the drama, while Handspring’s extraordinary puppetry (of War Horse fame) brings a surreal quality to the stage.

14.    Jonathan Watts: Dom Phillips’ How to Save the Amazon [Edinburgh Futures Institute] - In 2022, while on a research trip for How to Save the Amazon, journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous rights defender Bruno Pereira were murdered. In a show of solidarity, fuelled by their conviction that rigorous journalism must not be silenced, colleagues and supporters worked together to complete the book which tells the stories of rainforest defenders. Today we speak to Jonathan Watts, the Guardian's global environment editor, to celebrate Phillips' life and work.

15.    Sian Davey: The Garden [Stills Centre for Photography] - Exhibiting in Scotland for the first time, The Garden is an exhibition of work by British photographer Siân Davey. The artist and her son Luke spent three years transforming her garden into an immersive wildflower haven. Their garden wall became a community space for shared stories. Inviting others in, they captured moments of reflection, love, and connection. Thus, The Garden was born; a place for heartbreak, joy and everything in between, an expression of sexuality, yearning, joy and interconnectedness.

16.    Figures in Extinction [Festival Theatre] - Dance and theatre legends Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney unite with Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) to confront the climate crisis through spellbinding movement and sound. This collaboration confronts hard truths about humanity's impact on the world and explores art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction. Fusing contemporary dance with striking soundscapes and dialogue – from the crack of melting ice caps to the jarring chatter of social media influencers – Figures in Extinction calls for unity in a fractured world, finding a collective spark of hope in the darkness.

17.    Matt Winning: Solastalgia [Assembly George Square Studios] - Solastalgia: noun (sol-a-stal-gi-a) the emotional, physical or existential distress caused by environmental change to your home. A portmanteau of the words solace and nostalgia. A new storytelling climate comedy lecture about saving ourselves in time and protecting what you love by Dr Matt Winning. Host of Net Zero: A Very British Problem (BBC Radio 4). 

18.    Mike Berners-Lee: Climate Action and the Power of Truth [Edinburgh Futures Institute] - Global emissions are worse than ever. The ‘polycrisis’ we face reaches far beyond the climate. Why have we continued to fail when we have the means to succeed? Acclaimed researcher Mike Berners-Lee argues in A Climate of Truth that by focusing on the concept of honesty in our politics, media, and businesses, we can make a radical impact and have more efficiency than we thought possible. His conversation with us today will leave you energised for action.

19.    They, as part of Animation Shorts [various venues] - As the world reaches peak negativity, our hero’s plot for peace backfires with drastic consequences in this animated short film, the directorial debut of screen star Renée Zellweger.  

20.    Más Arte Más Acción: Around a Tree [Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh] - Colombian cultural foundation Más Arte Más Acción (MAMA) present an artistic public intervention, in the form of a large table around a tree, to discuss the interconnections between humans and plants in times of rapid biodiversity loss. The locally crafted circular table will be brought to life through discussions across disciplines of art and science; performances and readings; and collective actions. A soundscape, based on recordings made during the festival, building upon stops at botanical conferences including Ireland, Rwanda and Spain will be woven together by the artists to create a marathon of voices.

This is just a selection of the hundreds of shows taking place across our many festivals in August which touch on some of the most important issues facing our place, our people and our planet. We invite you to join us in 2025 and discover a world of extraordinary experiences.

Photo Credits: Kurt Van der Elst, Olafur Steinar Rye Gestsson, Fiona MacPherson, Rahi Rezvani