The Edinburgh International Festival returns to the city’s theatres, concert halls and venues today, at a scale not seen since 2019. The Festival launched with a stunning, large-scale and free Opening Event, MACRO, wowing an audience of over 15,000 people who gathered at BT Murrayfield to witness the joyous spectacle celebrating the International Festival’s anniversary: 75 years of bringing world cultures together.
MACRO, a co-production between Edinburgh International Festival and Adelaide Festival, featured Australian circus legends Gravity & Other Myths, First Nations dance group and internet sensation Djuki Mala and a group of Australian and Scottish musicians performing original music, including Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle), Lauren Maccoll (fiddle), Kathleen MacInnes and Ekrem Eli Phoenix (vocals), Duncan Strachan (cello) and Brighde Chaimbeul (pipes) with National Youth Choir of Scotland and spoken word from Edinburgh Makar, poet and author Hannah Lavery. Macro was supported by EventScotland and Scottish Government’s Platforms for Creative Excellence Resilience Fund and presented as part of the UK/Australia Season 2021-22 and in collaboration with Scottish Rugby.
MACRO marks the beginning of a fantastic three weeks of world-class live performances taking over the Scottish capital. Highlights include The Pulse at The Playhouse (8 – 9 August), also featuring the breath-taking acrobatics from Gravity & Other Myths, a new production of Dvořák’s Rusalka featuring award-winning Welsh soprano Natalia Romaniw in the title role (6 – 9 August), a special one-off concert from jazz legend Herbie Hancock, the world premiere of Burn featuring Festival-favourite Alan Cumming in his solo dance theatre debut (4 – 10 August), Gabriel Byrne’s Walking with Ghosts (24-28 August) follows the star’s origins in Dublin through his ascendance to Hollywood, and Scottish Ballet’s radical new production of Coppélia inspired by cloning and artificial intelligence (14 – 16 August).
Other artists appearing at the 2022 International Festival include: Nicola Benedetti, Arooj Aftab, Angel Blue, Malin Byström, Squarepusher, Kae Tempest, Kyle Abraham, Adura Onashile, Jordi Savall and conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Douglas Boyd, Elim Chan, Susanna Mälkki and Sir Andrew Davis.
The International Festival culminates with Thank You, Edinburgh (27 August), a free concert from The Philadelphia Orchestra led by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin who are in residence at the International Festival across four concerts. A thank you to the city and residents of Edinburgh, this special concert from one of America’s leading symphony orchestras takes place at the Edinburgh Playhouse and is also relayed live to the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens. The first 100 people to attend the live unticketed relay in the Gardens will receive a free snack pack, supplied by the International Festival’s official partners The Pantry and Bon Accord.
The 75th Edinburgh International Festival takes place from 5 to 28 August.