Edinburgh's Festivals
Edinburgh is best-known for its August festival: a huge, month-long arts extravaganza that actually includes several festivals running at the same time. But there are festivals taking place in Edinburgh throughout the year - from the Edinburgh Science Festival in April to Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations at New Year's Eve, with its Hogamanay street party for 80,000. These are the major Edinburgh Festivals in the city's events calendar.
| Edinburgh Festival | Starts | Ends | About the Festival | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival |
7 May 2012 - 9:00am | 14 May 2012 - 6:00pm | Touring children's theatre festival, taking place each May or June, with around 15 or so... Read more |
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Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012 |
20 Jun 2012 - 9:30pm | 1 Jul 2012 - 11:59pm | The Edinburgh International Film Festival, the longest continuously run film festival in the world... Read more |
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Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival |
20 Jul 2012 - 10:00am | 29 Jul 2012 - 11:59pm | The annual Edinburgh Jazz and Blues festival runs the gamut of jazz persuasions from more... Read more |
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Edinburgh Art Festival |
2 Aug 2012 - 12:00pm | 2 Sep 2012 - 11:59pm | Established in 2004, the Edinburgh Art Festival is the newest major addition to Edinburgh's August... Read more |
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Edinburgh Fringe 2012 |
3 Aug 2012 (All day) | 27 Aug 2012 (All day) | The Edinburgh International Festival may have come first, but generally it's the Fringe that... Read more |
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Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2012 |
3 Aug 2012 - 8:30pm | 25 Aug 2012 - 10:30pm | For scale, no show in Edinburgh can rival the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Literally hundreds... Read more |
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Edinburgh International Festival |
9 Aug 2012 - 6:00pm | 2 Sep 2012 - 10:45pm | The flagship Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), a high-brow assembly of some of the world's... Read more |
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Edinburgh International Book Festival |
11 Aug 2012 (All day) | 27 Aug 2012 (All day) | The temporary, tented village at Charlotte Square's Georgian garden, in the heart of Edinburgh's... Read more |
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MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival |
23 Aug 2012 - 9:00am | 26 Aug 2012 - 5:00pm | The London media's mover-and-shakers descend on Edinburgh for three days for this annual get-... Read more |
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Edinburgh Mela |
31 Aug 2012 - 6:00pm | 2 Sep 2012 - 10:00pm | As the names suggests, the annual "Mela" is a "festival" or "fair"... Read more |
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Scottish International Storytelling Festival |
19 Oct 2012 - 7:30pm | 28 Oct 2012 - 7:30pm | A festival that celebrates the art of yarn-spinning and tale-telling held at the award-winning... Read more |
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Edinburgh's Christmas |
25 Nov 2012 - 10:00am | 4 Jan 2013 - 11:59pm | Christmas, or Xmas for non-believers, used to be a quiet period in Edinburgh. It's less so now,... Read more |
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St. Andrew's Day |
30 Nov 2012 (All day) | 30 Nov 2012 (All day) | St. Andrew's Day commemorates Scotland's patron saint and is a Scottish Bank Holiday, although... Read more |
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Edinburgh's Hogmanay |
30 Dec 2012 - 5:00pm | 1 Jan 2013 - 9:00pm | Traditionally, Hogmanay is marked in Scotland with friends and first footing at the strike of... Read more |
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Burns Night in Edinburgh |
25 Jan 2013 - 6:00pm | 25 Jan 2013 - 11:59pm | Various Burns Suppers, ceilidhs and similar celebrations take place around the city to celebrate... Read more |
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Ceilidh Culture |
15 Mar 2013 - 7:30pm | 14 Apr 2013 - 11:00pm | Annual grass roots festival of traditional music and the arts taking place at venues across the... Read more |
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Edinburgh International Science Festival |
23 Mar 2013 - 10:00am | 7 Apr 2013 - 11:00pm | Founded in 1988, the Edinburgh Science Festival brings together a programme of educational and... Read more |
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Beltane Fire Festival |
30 Apr 2013 - 8:00pm | 1 May 2013 - 1:00am | On the last night of April and first day of May up to 12,000 people take to Calton Hill for a... Read more |