Superb Summer Festivals in Edinburgh – and don’t forget the Tattoo!

Edinburgh features four major cultural annual events annually between June and August, and after a couple of unappetising summers which put a number of potential visitors off this one promises to be a scorcher, hopefully persuading millions of visitors to return to Scotland’s capital city.

In chronological order first up is the Edinburgh International Film Festival which runs from the 17th to 28th June; only the second time in its 62 year history that it will take place in June. Although not as prestigious as Cannes or the Sundance Film Festivals the shindig in Edinburgh gives filmgoers the chance to experience international premieres and also put questions to leading actors, directors and producers from the world of film at the film study part of the Festival named Scene by Scene.

Just a month later it’s the turn of musicians to take centre stage for the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival which runs from the 31st July to 9th August. Large, small, indoor and outdoor venues all over the city are taken over to showcase the best artists of this musical genre, packing 120 concerts into the ten day festival. The climax of the 2009 event will see Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra take to the stage at the Edinburgh Playhouse for the grand finale. They will be joined onstage by special guest star Dave Edmunds and talented vocalists Ruby Turner & Louise Marshall. But, before that the Mardi Gras - billed as ‘an explosion of music excitement’ - will rock the historic Grassmarket, a popular entertainment and shopping district situated in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.

Flights to Edinburgh during August will be carrying many participants and spectators on their way to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Renowned for drawing visitors from all over the world since it was first staged in 1950, the 2009 event will host a triple celebration. Not only will The Tattoo celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s national bard, Robert ‘Rabbie’ Burns, it will host Scotland’s first ever Homecoming Festival, and also celebrate its own 60th staging of the event.

The last big event of the summer is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which starts on the same day as the Tattoo, but extending to the end of August. A hotbed of British comedy, many well-known comics and actors, and those unknowns hoping to break it big, put on a variety of performances all over the city.

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