Tomorrow, the Scottish capital of Edinburgh once again comes alive for August as five first-class festivals take over every corner of the city. In celebration, I’ve reminisced on my previous month-long stint covering the festivals, and how August in Edinburgh is truly life-affirming and life-changing.
Dear Edinburgh Festivals,
Thank you for the month-long journey of highs and lows, of laughter and tears, of new friends and new experiences. Thank you for celebrating in every corner of your city, for being so welcoming, prepared and ready to share your secret places with the world.
Even after a month here, I struggle to explain to people what August in Edinburgh is like. It’s impossible to capture in words the atmosphere that all your talented musicians, comedians, actors and creatives create. Nor can I explain with clarity the soul-searching conversations you drive – or the hangovers and late nights, because time always runs away in your company. Instead, I’ll show people this letter to tell them what Edinburgh in August is like.
It was an honour to be your first blogger in residence, to spend weeks getting to know the five festivals you throw – although years would be needed to see everything August has to offer. Most famous of course is your Fringe festival, which camps out in dark little pubs through to world-class venues, takes over public gardens, squares and the imagination of many. That turns the Royal Mile into a stage for ideas, laughter and a place for anyone who has the budget to perform to come from all corners of the world and put on their show.
I ended up semi-naked in a bed dressed as a bee – on stage, I hasten to add, not because of the beer gardens. I found myself dancing through crowds of people to nothing but the music in my headphones before being reduced to tears in a park with a one-man show.
I was wowed by the insane talent at the International festivals, right through to the final curtain call, or rather fireworks, which danced in the sky to the orchestra’s epically timed performance underneath.
I witnessed ballet and opera of a stupendous quality, laughed along with the cast of Midsummer in what felt like an open wedding invite, and took countless photos of your talented casts. The curated programme you put in each year is a credit to your team’s dedication.
Everyone I met who works for the festivals shares the same passion, and moments spent watching Leith Theatre being brought back to life by John Rabb, or understanding how you curate a city with Sorcha, I’ll never forget.
Extended art festivals can quickly become dull. But here? Oh no. A programme curated throughout the city, which opens up overlooked corners, that for the most part is free, makes art seem more open and welcome to those of us who might not always understand it.
Art late, with its whirlwind tour of music and installations, was washed down perfectly with Edinburgh gin. I baked pizzas in ovens while watching curated magic, got lost within lingering music in a reflective church. All of these unique offerings of your programme are a testament to the diversity you create each August.
Of course, the city’s setting helps. The magical feel of the Royal Mile, the buzzing Grassmarket, the Meadows where circus is reinvented, and your crowning glory, Edinburgh Castle.
The precision and talent on display each night at the Royal Military Tattoo is the perfect show to be set against the castle’s backdrops. I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Tattoo. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I left with the hairs on my arms erect.
The energy, the electricity, the showcase of cultures from countries all around the globe performing in tandem make for one of the greatest spectacles in the U.K., if not the world. And this year, the world was out in force both in the audience and on stage. With the Female marching band of Oman, the epic Basel secret drum corps and Mexico’s purpose-made band, you excelled in bringing so many cultures alive on the esplanade of your city’s most iconic attraction.
And finally – but perhaps most importantly – to the book festival, which moved me in ways I didn’t expect. I thought I’d come away with a few paperbacks, but I came away with a new appreciation for freedom. A new appreciation for the written and spoken word. A new appreciation for the power of literacy.
Whether it was at free readings or ticketed debates, late-night music performances open to all or last-minute author meets and greets after complicated visas finally came through, the programme of the International Book Festival is exactly that. Your focus on diversity, tolerance and broaching difficult subjects is to me what makes Edinburgh retain a piece of my heart.
Scotland is a country with a global presence and pride in its diversity, and the festivals in August celebrate that. You should be proud. All of you festivals and every citizen for setting that stage.
Your festivals push our boundaries and shake our confidence. Yet you still find ways for others to be an outside spectator if they wish to. Everyone’s Edinburgh festival experience will be different, but I think it’s an experience everyone should have once in their life.
Where else in the world does a whole city become the festival? Does everyone, whether planned or inadvertently, become part of the event? Where do a multitude of ideas, discussions and entertainment forms come to life?
The answer is simple and sole: August in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, you are the Festival City. Thank you. Thank you for being the perfect host.
Yours in laughter, tears, awe and gratitude,
Dan
