World City Guide

Culture

Edinburgh is right at the heart of Scottish culture during the annual Edinburgh International Festival. However, even without this, the city has a flourishing cultural scene in its own right. The Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 13-29 Nicolson Street (tel: (0131) 529 6000; fax: (0131) 662 1199; e-mail: tickets@eft.co.uk; website: www.eft.co.uk ), specialises in opera, ballet, dance, musical and variety productions on a grand scale. It has the biggest stage of any presenting theatre in Britain and is the venue for Edinburgh’s most prestigious shows. Usher Hall, Lothian Road (tel: (0131) 228 8616), is home to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (website: www.rsno.org.uk ). Major venues (the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the King’s Theatre and Usher Hall) are all to be found in Tollcross, Edinburgh’s equivalent of London’s West End.

Tickets to the Edinburgh Festival, the Hogmanay party and many other cultural events are available for purchase from The Hub, Castlehill (tel: (0131) 473 2000; website: www.eif.co.uk/the hub/ ). Tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival are issued by the Edinburgh Fringe Office, 180 High Street (tel: (0131) 226 5257). All other tickets can be purchased from the venues. The Military Tattoo has its own ticket office on 32 Market Street (tel: (0131) 225 1188). Ticketmaster (tel: (0870) 606 3424; website: www.scotland.ticketmaster.co.uk ) and Ticketline (tel: (0870) 840 1875 or (0870) 100 0000; website: www.ticketline.co.uk ) also provide tickets for some events and venues.

There is a wealth of information for all the Edinburgh cultural events available online, for the Edinburgh Festival (website: www.eif.co.uk ), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (website: www.edfringe.com ), the Jazz Festival (website: www.jazzmusic.co.uk ), the Edinburgh Film Festival (website: www.edfilmfest.org.uk ), the Book Festival (website: www.edbookfest.co.uk ) and the Military Tattoo (website: www.edintattoo.co.uk ). A good general online source of information (website: www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk ) also provides information on cultural events in the city.

Music: The Usher Hall, Lothian Road (tel: (0131) 228 8616), is Edinburgh’s finest concert hall and home to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (website: www.rsno.org.uk ). Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street (tel: (0131) 668 2019; fax: (0131) 668 2656; e-mail: admin@queenshalledinburgh.org; website: www.queenshalledinburgh.co.uk ), is also a popular venue for classical music performance. This former church hosts a world-class programme, headed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (website: www.sco.org.uk ). The Edinburgh Playhouse, 18-22 Greenside Place (tel: (0131) 524 3333; website: www.edinburgh-playhouse.co.uk ), was restored in 1993, following a fire. The venue now hosts large musical productions, as well as one-off pop concerts.

Theatre: The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, 30B Grindlay Street (tel: (0131) 248 4800; e-mail: info@lyceum.org.uk; website: www.lyceum.org.uk ), is Edinburgh’s leading theatre company. The King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street (tel: (0131) 529 6000; fax: (0131) 662 1199; e-mail: tickets@eft.co.uk; website: www.eft.co.uk ), is an elegant Edwardian venue presenting quality drama of a traditional nature, as well as the city’s annual pantomime. The Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street (tel: (0131) 228 1404; fax: (0131) 229 8443; e-mail: boxoffice@traverse.co.uk; website: www.traverse.co.uk ), focuses on award-winning, exciting and original contemporary plays by Scottish and international writers.

Dance: The main dance centre in Edinburgh is Dance Base (tel: (0131) 225 5525; website: www.dancebase.org.uk ), which has classes, workshops and events at 14-16 Grassmarket.

Film: The Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road (tel: (0131) 228 2688; fax: (0131) 229 6482; e-mail: admin@filmhousecinema.com; website: www.filmhousecinema.com ), is an independent arthouse cinema showing international films and classics. It is also the headquarters for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Multi-screen complexes include the Cameo Cinema, 38 Home Street (tel: (0131) 228 2800), the Odeon Cinema, 7 Clerk Street (tel: (0870) 505 0007), the Warner Village, Greenside Row (tel: (08702) 406020), Ster Century, Ocean Terminal, Leith (tel: (0131) 553 0700 and the UCI, out of town at Kinnaird Park (tel: (0870) 010 2030).

Edinburgh has become an increasingly popular place to make movies and also features in many well-known films. Trainspotting (1996), Shallow Grave (1994), Women Talking Dirty (1999), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Great Expectations (1998) were all shot or set in Edinburgh.

Cultural Events: The highlight of the cultural year in Scotland is the Edinburgh International Festival, which takes place for three weeks towards the end of the summer (Aug/Sep). Founded in 1947, it is now the largest arts festival in the world. The innovative Edinburgh Festival Fringe and International Film Festival run concurrently with the main festival. Shows range from short open-air concerts to full-scale productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Military Tattoo also takes place in the summer (Aug) on Edinburgh Castle’s Esplanade. Other major festivals that coincide with the main Festival include the International TV Festival, Edinburgh International Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Book Festival and Edinburgh International Folk Festival. Every April, the city hosts the Edinburgh Science Festival, which attracts scientists from around the world. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, celebrated on 31 December, has its origins in pre-Christian times and is always one of Europe’s largest New Year celebrations. The Edinburgh and Lothian Information Centre (website: www.edinburgh.org ) provides more information on the programme of events to celebrate Hogmanay in 2004 and 2005.

Literary Notes: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), by Muriel Spark, seemed to define the city’s traditional image in the 20th century, until Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting was published in 1993. Great writers to have expounded on Edinburgh in earlier periods include Robert Louis Stevenson, whose famous tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) was set in London but based on his experiences of Edinburgh, and Sir Walter Scott in The Waverley Novels (1829-33). JK Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), while sitting in a caf in Edinburgh.