Edinburgh International Festival to return in August with outdoor shows only

World's biggest performing arts showpiece was cancelled last year because of Covid-19

Scottish Ballet dancers take part in the unveiling of the Edinburgh International Festival My Light Shines On at the Festival Theatre in August 2020. Getty Images

Entertainers perform on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh during the festival in 2019. Getty Images

The Edinburgh International Festival is launched with the Speed of Light, a choreographed public art piece on Arthur's Seat involving endurance runners and walkers using fluorescent lights, in 2012. Getty Images

Shaolin Wu Shu warriors perform at the Chinese State Circus in Edinburgh, in 2008. Getty Images

Dancers Julie Diana and Yury Yanowsky with the Corp de Ballet perform Swan Lake at The Festival Theatre in 2005. Getty Images

Dulsori drummers promote there Edinburgh Festival show on top of Calton Hill in 2007. Getty Images

Street entertainers perform on the Royal Mile in 2006. Getty Images

A street performer balances a unicycle on his face while entertaining the crowd in 2003. Getty Images

Richard Burton performs as Hamlet during the Edinburgh Festival in 1953. Getty Images

The Edinburgh Festival opens with a procession to St Giles in 1950. Getty Images

The Edinburgh International Festival is to return this summer as an outdoors-only event after last year's showpiece was cancelled due to Covid-19.

The performing arts festival will be held in temporary outdoor pavilions with socially distanced seating in front of concert stages, organisers announced.

The event is scheduled for August 7 to 29, by which time Scotland's government hopes to have moved to minimal 'Level 0' restrictions on public life.

However, organisers are still planning Covid-19 safety measures, including contactless ticketing and shorter performances with no intervals in order to reduce the gathering of crowds.

In addition, a selection of events will be available online, organisers said.

The outdoor pavilions will be located in three spots, including in Edinburgh Park and the University of Edinburgh’s Old College Quad, and covered concert stages will be set up.

"We are hugely grateful to the artists who have agreed to come on this journey with us, the stakeholders, donors, and sponsors who have stood by us through a tough year and our audiences who have cheered us along throughout," festival director Fergus Linehan said.

"We look forward to sharing full details of the programme in early June.”

City of Edinburgh Council member Donald Wilson described the festival as an "explosion of performing arts, cultural exploration and sheer exhilaration that takes place across the city".

Mr Wilson vowed that public safety would be prioritised and looked forward to enjoying live performances after last year's cancellation of what is the world's biggest performing arts festival.

"It will be fantastic for audiences to share in the live performance experience again, with an exceptional outdoor pavilions programme for local audiences alongside the festival’s online offering," he said.

Iain Munro, the chief executive of Creative Scotland, welcomed the return of the event.

“Scotland’s art and creative sector has been hit hard by Covid-19 and its effects continue to have an impact, however, it has been truly remarkable how artists and creative organisations across Scotland have adapted to continue to deliver creative work for audiences," he said.

Full details of the 2021 programme are due to be unveiled on June 2, organisers said.

Priority booking will open a day earlier on June 1, before general booking opens on June 11.