Every August the streets of Edinburgh are transformed into a bustling, lively celebration of the arts industry, with performances of opera, dance, live theatre, comedy and classical music. This year 4 million people are expected to attend the festival. To get an inside scoop, here are five things you probably didn’t know about the Edinburgh Festival.
1. The Edinburgh Festival is really a combination of twelve different festivals
The most famous of these are probably the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but there’s also the Edinburgh Mela, a vibrant Asian festival (pictured), the Festival of Politics and the International Television Festival.
2. The International Festival was created as a post-war 'pick-me-up' in 1947
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe began that year too, when eight theatrical companies gatecrashed the festival. Since then, performance groups have followed suit, creating a showcase of pop-up performances year after year.
3. Statistics calculated in 2007 stated that it would take a total of 5 years, 11 months and 16 days to see every performance back to back
Since then the number of performances has increased by more than 20%. You can do the maths to work out how jam-packed the festivals can be.
4. It's not all high-brow.
Guests at the festival have included Sean Connery and Dizzee Rascal, while performances have included an opera about Barack Obama and 'sing-along-spectaculars' inspired by the TV series Glee.
5. In 2010 the Edinburgh Fringe broke box office records, selling almost 2 million tickets for over 40,000 performances
Luckily you still have a chance to catch the action and there is still availability in many of the Edinburgh apartments that SilverDoor represents. Abercromby Apartments, for example, provide the perfect place to relax after a day of enjoying the festivals.
Chloe Chivers, PR & Marketing Support
