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. Below are the major Edinburgh Festivals in the city's events calendar.
| Edinburgh Festival | Starts | Ends | About the Festival | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Edinburgh International Science Festival |
31 Mar 2018 - 10:00am | 15 Apr 2018 - 11:00pm | Founded in 1988, the Edinburgh Science Festival brings together a programme of around 270... Read more |
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Beltane Fire Festival |
30 Apr 2018 - 8:00pm | 1 May 2018 - 1:30am | On the last night of April and first day of May up to 12,000 people take to Calton Hill for a... Read more |
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Edinburgh International Film Festival |
20 Jun 2018 - 9:00pm | 1 Jul 2018 - 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 |
13 Jul 2018 - 10:00am | 22 Jul 2018 - 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 |
26 Jul 2018 - 12:00pm | 26 Aug 2018 - 11:59pm | Established in 2004, the Edinburgh Art Festival is the newest major addition to Edinburgh's... Read more |
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Edinburgh Fringe 2018 |
3 Aug 2018 (All day) | 27 Aug 2018 (All day) | The Edinburgh International Festival may have come first, but generally it's the Fringe that... Read more |
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Edinburgh International Festival |
3 Aug 2018 - 6:00pm | 27 Aug 2018 - 10:45pm | The flagship Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) marks its 71st anniversary in 2018. A high-brow... Read more |
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Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2018 |
3 Aug 2018 - 9:00pm | 25 Aug 2018 - 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 Book Festival |
11 Aug 2018 (All day) | 27 Aug 2018 (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 |
22 Aug 2018 - 9:00am | 24 Aug 2018 - 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 |
1 Sep 2018 - 12:00pm | 1 Sep 2018 - 9:00pm | 2018 dates and times to be confirmed. As the names suggests, the annual "Mela" is a... Read more |
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Scottish International Storytelling Festival |
19 Oct 2018 - 7:30pm | 31 Oct 2018 - 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 |
16 Nov 2018 - 10:00am | 5 Jan 2019 - 11:59pm | Dates and times to be confirmed Christmas, or Xmas for non-believers, used to be a quiet period in... Read more |
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St. Andrew's Day |
30 Nov 2018 (All day) | 30 Nov 2018 (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 2018 - 7:00pm | 1 Jan 2019 - 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 2019 - 6:00pm | 25 Jan 2019 - 11:59pm | Various Burns Suppers, ceilidhs and similar celebrations take place around the city to celebrate... Read more |