CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR EVENT

Edinburgh International Festival

The Edinburgh International Festival returns from 1st to 24th August 2025 with live performance throughout the city.

Edinburgh International Festival

About Edinburgh International Festival

For three weeks in August, Scotland’s capital becomes an unparalleled celebration of the performing arts and an annual meeting point for people of all nations. The International Festival presents a programme featuring the finest performers and ensembles from the worlds of dance, opera, music and theatre.

Our impact extends beyond the annual programme: our community learning and engagement and professional development programmes run throughout the year, reaching the widest possible audiences and contributing to the cultural and social life of Edinburgh and Scotland.

The 2025 Festival invites audiences to examine their relationship with truth through a curated programme of music, dance, theatre and opera. The pursuit of truth is an essential part of being human, but today this search for meaning is precarious, fractured and abused. Through the lens of this year’s theme The Truth We Seek, the International Festival presents contemporary reflections on the world alongside time-honoured tales, a place where fact meets faith and fiction. 

Sponsored Links

The Chocolatarium
Escape The Past
Fayre Play

Other Events at Various Venues or Edinburgh International Festival

Verdi’s A Masked Ball

26th August 2026 - 30th August 2026

Zurich Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi’s stunning opera, A Masked Ball, filled with desire, treachery and political peril.

READ MORE

Edinburgh International Festival: Mere Mortals

28th August 2026 - 30th August 2026

San Francisco Ballet presents a provocative myth for the AI age, in their futuristic retelling of Pandora’s Box at Edinburgh Playhouse.

READ MORE

Edinburgh International Festival: Berliner Philharmoniker: Elgar & Tchaikovsky

29th August 2026

The Berliner Philharmoniker and Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko open the Usher Hall series with Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’.

READ MORE

Edinburgh International Festival: Berliner Philharmoniker: Closing Concert

30th August 2026

Experience ‘the world’s greatest orchestra’ (LA Times) performing with award-winning soloist Augustin Hadelich in the closing concert of their residency.

READ MORE

Sponsored Links

Wonder & Co
Edinburgh Dungeon
ATG
Hostelworld

Similar events you might like...

Doctor Bonk’s Macarbaret

Doctor Bonk’s Macarbaret

Selected dates between 18th October 2025 - 19th December 2026

Dr Bonk, Scotland's silliest surgeon, presents the Macarbaret: a madcap hour of drag, burlesque, music, comedy, and medical mayhem!

READ MORE
Monster Cabaret

Monster Cabaret

Selected dates between 1st November 2025 - 5th December 2026

Join Madame Mabh for her haunted house party at the Banshee Labyrinth, featuring both classic cabaret acts and unusual happenings!

READ MORE
Stand Up Horror

Stand Up Horror

Selected dates between 15th November 2025 - 19th December 2026

Improvised, macabre tales featuring (voluntary!) members of the audience as actor, writer and tour guide Alex Staniforth invents a horror story every night at Stand Up Horror!

READ MORE
Jamie Leonard: Wonder Boy

Jamie Leonard: Wonder Boy

28th December 2025

After a hugely successful 2025 Edinburgh Fringe run with five-star reviews, Jamie Leonard returns with his most exciting hour yet: Wonder Boy!

READ MORE
Monster Masquerade Ball NYE

Monster Masquerade Ball NYE

31st December 2025

Join the Monster for his annual Monsters Masquerade Ball this Hogmanay at Frankenstein Pub!

READ MORE
Wonderland NYE

Wonderland NYE

31st December 2025

Join us at the Shanghai Nightclub for a night in Wonderland this NYE with full theme decor, live entertainment, performers & more!

READ MORE
Sin City NYE - One Night in Vegas!

Sin City NYE - One Night in Vegas!

31st December 2025

Join us at Le Monde for a night in Sin City, as vintage vegas comes to Le Monde this Hogmanay! With full venue decor, casino, performers and more...

READ MORE
VEGAS! The Grand Hogmanay Ball

VEGAS! The Grand Hogmanay Ball

31st December 2025

Say farewell to 2025, and welcome in 2026 at The Vegas Grand Hogmanay Ball in the Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh!

READ MORE

Find other events in Edinburgh

Sponsored Links

The Chocolatarium
Escape The Past
Fayre Play
Wonder & Co
Edinburgh Dungeon
ATG
Hostelworld

Popular Events

Edinburgh’s Christmas: Around the World Starflyer
Try it if you dare! The Starflyer is back at Edinburgh's Christmas giving the finest, and most thrilling, views of the stunning city centre skyline!
Panto 2025: Jack and the Beanstalk
Join Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young for the GIANT of a pantomime we've all BEAN waiting for!
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Torchlight Procession
The spectacular Torchlight Procession will once again light up the city with a river of fire created by over 15,000 torch bearers and friends from around the world!
Castle Of Light
Make Castle of Light: Fire and Ice part of your festive plans and enjoy the largest annual projection show in the UK when it returns for its sixth year!
Edinburgh’s Christmas: Christmas Market
One of the most iconic Christmas Markets in Europe, Edinburgh's Christmas Market returns to East Princes Street Gardens showcasing the best in artisan festive products and goods from local makers!

Popular Listings

Corn Exchange Haddington Edinburgh Playhouse Festival Theatre Edinburgh Howden Park Centre Livingston Kings Theatre Edinburgh National Museum of Scotland O2 Academy Edinburgh The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh Traverse Theatre Usher Hall