Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace

The Festival of Spirituality and Peace (FoSP) was established in 2001 - post 9/11 - out of a desire to re-awaken the original spirit of the Edinburgh International Festival. The EIF was set up as a peace initiative following the devastation and suffering of WWII: Art and Culture were seen as a platform for peace and reconciliation - a "flowering of the human spirit". Director Donald Reid considers FoSP "a place of encounter, conversation and respect, of shared wisdom applied to the issues of our day."

In many senses a festival within the overall festival, the FoSP's 2010 programme (PDF) of 92 events - including a talk on Islamic banking, performances of Taiko drumming, Tesssa Ransford poetry readings, Japanese tea ceremony, screenings, healing sessions, and prayers - nevertheless has a unifying theme: commitment to the principles of creativity, inclusivity and dialogue and to modelling the dynamics of peacemaking. It aims to sponsor the kind of conversations and encounters which need to happen in the wider world if there is to be peace and respect for all - and to garner wisdom wherever it is to be found.