Business News Gigs & Festivals

A streamlined Edinburgh Festival kicks off today after 2020’s COVID-caused cancellation

By | Published on Friday 6 August 2021

Edinburgh 2021

The Edinburgh Festival officially kicks off today, with three weeks of comedy, theatre, music and other culture returning to the Scottish capital after last year’s event was cancelled as a result of COVID-19.

The world’s biggest cultural festival is actually several different festivals that all happen at the same time in venues all around Edinburgh, including the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh Art Festival. Edinburgh’s annual film festival is also returning to an August slot this year.

Unsurprisingly, the 2021 edition of the Edinburgh Festival is something of a streamlined affair, given all the uncertainty in recent months regarding when COVID regulations would actually lift, not to mention ongoing COVID rules and travel restrictions in Scotland and elsewhere. Social distancing rules are still in force in Scotland but will end on Monday, although festival organisers stress that other COVID-safety measures will still be in place.

As a result of all that, there are significantly fewer shows than in a normal year – especially within the usually enormous Fringe – and all of the five festivals are offering a mixture of in-person and digital shows and events as part of their 2021 programmes. The latter build on the digital programmes that many members of the Edinburgh Festival community staged last August during the cancelled year.

Despite the streamlined programme, there is still lots of music happening in both the Fringe and the International Festival. The latter is running a new purpose-built outdoor music venue in Edinburgh Park which will see the likes of Erland Cooper, Anna Meredith, Damon Albarn, Nadine Shah, Laura Mvula and Thundercat play over the festival month.

Officially launching the Fringe part of the festival this morning, Shona McCarthy, CEO of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “The Fringe is always a remarkable feat, but this year, it’s nothing short of extraordinary. In the face of complex restrictions and enormous challenges, the Fringe community has created a diverse and engaging programme of over 700 shows to entertain us, bring us joy, and ultimately, do what culture does best: tell stories that help us understand where we are, what we’ve been through, and where we need to go”.

Meanwhile, the Fringe’s current President, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, added: “The Edinburgh Fringe is back! In an act of pure artistic heroism, the Fringe Society and thousands of artists, writers, dancers, actors, designers, comedians, musicians and creatives have fought to bring this festival back to the streets of glorious, glittering Edinburgh. We have a lot of time to make up for and this festival is more than ready for you”.

“With hundreds of live and online events you can see as many shows in a week than you would have in the whole of last year and we are finally able to reconnect, inspire, surprise, and entertain each other like we used to”, she went on. “I have never wanted to have a leaflet thrusted at me more. We’re being offered a giant cultural sprinkler after a year of drought and I can’t wait to jump through it, shrieking, with you all”.

CMU’s sister magazine ThreeWeeks Edinburgh is covering the festival as always, with show recommendations, interviews and reviews going online throughout the month at threeweeksedinburgh.com. All that coverage will also be accessible via the TW Weekly email bulletin.



READ MORE ABOUT: |