Edinburgh International Festival
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the General Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of opera, theatre, music (especially classical music) and dance from around the world to perform.
History
The first International Festival (and the first festival of Fringe, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, although it wasn't known as such until later) took place in 1947, in the wake of the Second World War, with an optimistic remit to 'provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit' and enrich the cultural life of Scotland, Britain and Europe. The founders of the Festival included Rudolf Bing, (then the General Manager of Glyndebourne Opera Festival), Henry Harvey Wood the Head of the British Council in Scotland, and a group of civic leaders from the City of Edinburgh.
The festivals have taken place every August since.