University welcomes the world to the festival city
Edinburgh is the world's leading festival city, with an array of major events bringing artists and visitors from all over the world to our streets and stages.
Each August the University is at the heart of the action, hosting venues on campus, working in partnership with organisers, and seeing staff and students take part in events.
A celebration of culture like no other, the festivals continue to inspire people to visit, work, or study in Edinburgh. The city is transformed and there is truly something for everyone.
The University campus is at the heart of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, providing homes for many venues, including Assembly, Underbelly, Pleasance Theatre and Gilded Balloon.
It’s not just about hosting however, with staff and students taking part in events across the programme. Opportunities to take part often arise through course work or student societies.
University researchers take centre stage in ‘Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas', contemplating (with humour) diverse topics including AI and Creativity, stem cells, aliens, and what brings happiness.
Students can also be found treading the boards all over town. Edinburgh University Theatre Company present its 43rd Fringe at its year-round home Bedlam Theatre, while Theatre Paradok present a programme of new writing at The Caves.
At the Edinburgh International Festival, the University continues to work in partnership with the team, supporting the event and creating opportunities for researchers and students to get involved.
Animation students from Edinburgh College of Art take part in a special project connected to 1927’s production ‘Please right back’, creating animated stories inspired by the production.
Programme Director for MSc Sound Design Jules Rawlinson contributed to ‘900 Voices’, a sound installation created using the voices of Edinburgh locals, commissioned by St Giles Cathedral with the International Festival in celebration of Edinburgh’s 900th anniversary.
This year’s Edinburgh Art Festival features exhibits celebrating students past and present, as well as new artist and collections collaborations.
The Edinburgh Seven Tapestry commemorates the first women to matriculate at a British university, and is the first major artwork to be installed at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Edinburgh College of Art showcases the talent of the future in its graduate degree show, combining new work from the schools of Art, Design, Architecture & Landscape Architecture.
The University’s Art Collections team also present a co-commission by artist Renèe Helena Browne. ‘Sanctus!’, a film installation exploring family dynamics, faith, death and the afterlife, is at City Arts Centre.
This summer the Edinburgh International Book Festival moves to a new home on campus at the newly opened Edinburgh Futures Institute.
The programme features speakers from our academic staff, bringing their expertise to the festival’s theme ‘Future Tense’ with discussions on AI, big data, and new communities.
Events look back as well as forwards, with series ‘Words from the Wards’ reflecting on memories of the Futures Institutes past, as Edinburgh’s old royal infirmary building.
This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival sees the event reimagined, with screenings across the city allowing audiences to experience its cinema programme alongside the Fringe.
Screenings are hosted at two venues on campus – at Inspace, part of the Institute for Design Informatics, and 50 George Square, part of Assembly George Square Gardens.
Related Links
University of Edinburgh & Edinburgh's Festivals
Edinburgh International Festival