The Edinburgh Art festival is a relatively new addition to Edinburgh's August festivals line-up, but it fills a longtime gap. Visual art somehow seemed obscured by the creative mayhem of the rest of the festival before the galleries clubbed together and launched their own festival within the Edinburgh Festival.

The Edinburgh Art Festival 2008 programme includes off-beat events in and out of galleries such as late night culture crawls, experimenta, and art installations as well as 50 exhibitions of local, national and international artists and groups. Virtually all of Edinburgh's galleries, both commercial and public galleries, take part.