Following the launch of its Festival 2012 programme earlier this month, tickets go on sale for the Edinburgh International Festival 2012 this Saturday.
Almost 3000 artists from 47 nations will gather for live Festival 2012 performances of theatre, dance, opera and music between Thursday 9 August and Sunday 2 September, with audiences from approximately a third of the world’s nations.
The Opening Concert, Delius’s A Mass of Life, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and performed by the RSNO is likely to be a hot ticket.
As is the Mariinsky Ballet and orchestra's performance of Prokofiev’s Cinderella which is being led by Maestro Valery Gergiev and choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky.
A show that will be visible from various vantage points around the city, but is ticketed for up-close encounters, will be NVA’s Speed of Light. Thousands of walkers will form the participatory audience as hill runners in light suits perform choreographed movements on Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park.
Other shows where tickets are expected to be quickly snapped up are the European premiere of Deborah Colker Dance Company’s Tatyana where Hot Brazilian moves meet Russian passion and a new production of Janáček’s The Makropulos Case by Opera North with acclaimed director Tom Cairns and an exceptional cast of soloists.
The EIF also anticipates that the three productions by acclaimed European directors at the Royal Highland Centre’s Lowland Hall will be a major draw: Grzegorz Jarzyna’s visceral and multi-media version of Macbeth, 2008: Macbeth. French director Ariane Mnouchkine’s epic production Les Naufragés du Fol Espoir (Aurores); and Christoph Marthaler’s adaptation of My Fair Lady, Meine faire Dame – ein Sprachlabor.
The Usher Hall programme this year includes a partnership of Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra, and the globally acclaimed ensemble of young musicians, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
The festival finale, the Festival Fireworks Concert, sponsored by Virgin Money, is expected to sell out quickly as in previous years. This year celebrates "the best of British", and the Queen’s Jubilee, with famous tunes by Walton and Vaughan Williams.
Ticket deals
Ticket prices start at just £6.
From 24 March, under-18s and students in full time education can buy any ticket at 50% off on selected performances.
More discounts become available in the run up to the Festival.
People with a disability can buy the seats most suited to them for the lowest (unrestricted view) ticket price for that performance. Their companion’s ticket will be free.
Ticket sales
Tickets will be on sale from Hub Tickets from Saturday and from Monday 26 March you can also buy tickets at The Edinburgh Playhouse, Festival Theatre, The Queen’s Hall, Royal Lyceum Theatre and the Usher Hall.