1 week ago Sam Heughan at the Edinburgh International Book Festival: Here are 11 amazing pictures of the star at the sold out event

It was one of the hottest tickets in town.

Culture

1 week ago Sam Heughan: How fans from Belgium, US travelled to get last

Tickets for the Sam Heughan event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival sold out within 15 minutes

Politics

2 w. ago Edinburgh International Festival dance review: Figures in Extinction

The climate crisis is addressed with empathy, wit and assuredness in a new collaboration between Simon McBurney and Crystal Pite, writes Kelly Apter

Culture

2 w. ago Edinburgh Festivals diary: How Scottish are the festivals and how Scottish should they be?

The Edinburgh International Festival was almost based in Oxford

Politics

2 w. ago Sam Heughan in Edinburgh: Outlander Jamie Fraser star Sam Heughan poses for photos at Edinburgh Tattoo

Heughan is in the city for the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Culture

2 w. ago Ken Loach in Edinburgh: Palestine Action ban is 'legal monstrosity'

The filmmaker posed with activists after an event at the Edinburgh International Film festival

Politics

2 w. ago Edinburgh International Book Festival: The future of creativity in the age of AI

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is an event that aims to 'celebrate and share the power of writers, their ideas, and the words they craft'. The festival welcomes hundreds of world-renowned authors, journalists, scientists, and artists to the Scottish capital for just over two weeks every August. This year there was one question on everyone's minds: what is the future of creativity in the age of AI?

Culture

2 w. ago Hong Kong on show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe for third year running

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest melting pot of international theatre, music, dance and comedy in the world, and this year marks Hong Kong's third year bringing the Hong Kong Soul Showcase to Edinburgh. With three shows spanning dance and music, each performance puts the artistic excellence of Hong Kong front and centre on the world stage. We spoke to producer Sky Sum about the programme.

Culture

2 w. ago Festivals diary: Why everything is broken and one comedian's famous heckler

Eva Victor told the Edinburgh International Film Festival is was not her first time in Edinburgh in August

Culture

2 w. ago Mary, Queen of Scots review – bold ballet brings the royal courts bang up to date

Festival theatre, EdinburghMary births a balloon and Elizabeth I towers on stilts in Sophie Laplane and James Bonas’s production about the queens’ distant relationshipThe second half of this show is much better than the first. It’s often the way in (loosely) narrative ballet. There’s all the scene-setting and character introductions before you can get to the guts of it – the relationships, the tension, the betrayal. Scottish Ballet’s new Mary, Queen of Scots, created by choreographer Sophie Laplane and director James Bonas, stumbles in the setup. Sometimes it’s just helpful to know where we are and who’s who. How would we know this scene where the men have porky prosthetic bellies protruding from their jackets is the French court, for example?The central conceit is that this is Mary’s story told through her cousin Elizabeth I’s eyes and the creators have set themselves a challenge there: in literature, one person can easily tell another’s story, but you can’t dance someone else’s da...

Politics

3 w. ago Edinburgh International Festival dance review: Scottish Ballet's Mary, Queen of Scots

The iconic title character is upstaged by an older Queen Elizabeth in Scottish Ballet’s vivid portrayal of the parallel courts of Scotland and England, writes Lucy Ribchester

Politics

3 w. ago Sturgeon says she could foster a child if her life ‘calms down sufficiently’

The former Scottish first minister spoke about the prospect at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Politics

3 w. ago Sturgeon: I was not victim of ‘coercive control’ by former mentor Salmond

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon was questioned on her relationship with her predecessor at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Events

3 w. ago Sturgeon tells of fresh abuse in ‘toxic’ trans rights debate

The former Scottish first minister was speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday.

Events

3 w. ago Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025 Star Guests: 10 famous faces who will walk the red carpet

A week-long celebration of film gets underway this week in Edinburgh.

Culture

3 w. ago Canvas of Sound with Tazeen Qayyum at EIF: 'There's something special about seeing an artist working live'

In her Edinburgh International Festival collaboration with musicians Basel Rajoub and Feras Charestan, conceptual artist Tazeen Qayyum hopes to ‘touch some souls’. Interview by Jim Gilchrist

Politics

3 w. ago Director Paul Andrew Williams on returning to EIFF with intense new film Dragonfly: ‘Brenda Blethyn was up for anything’

Writer/director Paul Andrew Williams is back at the Edinburgh International Film Festival with a quietly gripping film starring Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn. Interview by Alistair Harkness

Politics

3 w. ago Preview: Scottish Ballet’s Mary Queen of Scots at EIF – ‘she had to almost become like a man to survive’

How do you say something new and original about Scotland’s most famous and storied queen? The Scottish Ballet team tell Kelly Apter it’s all about emotion

Politics

3 w. ago Scottish Ballet’s Mary, Queen of Scots at EIF – ‘she had to almost become like a man to survive’

How do you say something new and original about Scotland’s most famous and storied queen? The Scottish Ballet team tell Kelly Apter it’s all about emotion

Politics

4 w. ago Can the Edinburgh International Book Festival repair itself?

After last year’s sponsorship furore nearly broke the Edinburgh International Book Festival, David Robinson looks ahead to see if new strands, new venues and appearances from internationally renowned writers can help it thrive

Society