2015 Edinburgh Festival Program Announced

The program for 2015 Edinburgh International Festival was recently announced, after festival dates were moved  to coincide with the Festival Fringe art festival. The festival of theater, music and dance will run from August 7 to 31, and is the first one to be directed by Fergus Linehan.

The festival is slated to include an operatic animation, as well as a brass band spectacular and a world premiere of the performance of the novel Lanark by Alasdair Gray. Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, publicized that the Scottish government is using £200,000 of government funding in order to support its production, which will also be showcased in the fall at the Citizens Theater in Glasgow.

The festival is expected to include over 2,300 artists, hailing from 39 nations. This year’s event will also be held in an open air environment and spectators will be treated to a digitally animated artwork projection onto Usher Hall’s front side that will be accompanied by music.

The Edinburgh Festival’s expo fund has already given over £15 million to support famous festivals ever since 2008-09, and over £1.5 million of the funds are slated for the Edinburgh International Festival.

Linehan stated that the funding will help bring in new works from lots of fantastic Scottish artists and other companies to perform on the Edinburgh Festival’s intercontinental stage. This year, he is also on a mission to entice a younger audience to come to the show; if not that, then at least an audience who knows who French actress Juliette Binche is, so that visitors would be eager to see her perform in the new rendition of Antigone, a Greek tragedy.

The Edinburgh festivals bring in over £250 million of tourism income to the economy of Scotland, according to statistics, and is also said to be equally vital to supporting its global profile. Officials also state that the festivals help to define and promote the country’s identity as a nation that is confident and welcoming.

For more information, you can check out the festival online here.