Year Round Festivals and Events
The Festivals Office Team, despite the name of their office , do not have any downtime when the summer festival season is finished. In fact they work year round on creative and cultural events based in and around the University campus.
“So what do you do for the rest of the year?”
“Ah, it must be time for you to put your feet up now until next summer?”
These are amongst the most common phrases we hear after the summer festival season is over. I suppose they are valid statements because we are called the Festivals Office after all. But unbeknownst to many people we operate all year round on a whole variety of events. As well as the many other festivals that Edinburgh has to offer, we also coordinate the University’s involvement in Edinburgh’s filming and creative events around campus throughout the year.
We deal with enquiries for a range of events such as
- filming TV dramas
- dance performances
- choral concerts
- film premières
- fashion shows
- outdoor cinema
- exhibitions
- orchestral recitals
- live music gigs
.....and much much more.
Recently, we have had all hands on deck working on the Xmas edition of Songs of Praise and are busy setting up some Hogmanay concerts and ceilidhs at McEwan Hall.
Over 2 weeks in November, McEwan Hall was also the backdrop for a forthcoming Scottish / American feature film. The film is based on the book, The Sopranos by Alan Warner, which follows the uplifting and moving story of six Catholic choir girls from Oban, let loose in Edinburgh for one day. Alan Warner’s previous novel Morven Callar was also successfully turned into a film starring Samantha Morton.
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones, (Rob Roy, Memphis Belle, Basic Instinct 2), this production was filming in various Edinburgh locations, including Castle Terrace and the Grassmarket. The production involved a cast of 10, a crew of over 50, and 150 supporting artists.
The photo attached shows the large camera and lighting rig needed for one of the shots through the window into the Deans’ Reception Room.
Looking ahead to 2019 we are already planning Science, Film, Fringe and International Festival events alongside the planning, production and promotion of cultural performances all over campus in the festival downtime!
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