The flagship Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) is a high-brow assembly of some of the world's best music, opera, theatre, and dance companies.
The festival was launched in 1947 as a stage for peace and unity in Europe after the Second World War. It was out of the Festival that the now massive Edinburgh Fringe sprung and grew in subsequent years.
The Festival has traditionally started and finished with a large-scale, free public event, although the Festival hasn't held its crowd-pleasing Fireworks Concert finale since 2019. The 2024 Opening event Where to Begin introduced a fee for the event (where before tickets were free) and the EIF Opening Event was cut in 2025 due to budget constraints. There will still be an EIF Opening Concert.
The 2025 Festival launched its full programme on 13 March. It's the third under the lead of Festival Director and violinist Nicola Benedetti and takes the theme of "The Truth We Seek".
It includes an eight-hour choral extravaganza, an outdoor promenade dance piece and a circus-infused opera. Performances also encourage audience participation, from an outdoor mass-singlaong to interactive concerts where the audience chooses the repertoire.
Return after Covid-19
After a year out due to Covid-19 in 2020, the EIF returned in 2021 with a music-heavy festival line-up in outdoor pavilions at Edinburgh Park and Old College Quad and a handful of its usual venues.
The EIF also introduce a an online programme of free shows - including concerts and theatre recorded at the festival, and specially commissioned dance films from around the world. The strand EIF At Home featured 18 full length performances, available on-demand through the EIF web site.
Traditionally, the festival climaxed with the Festival Fireworks Concert, although the opening and closing events were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions and lack of sponsorship meant that, after 40 years, the Festival Fireworks Concert was not resumed in 2022 and subsequent years.
- Latest EIF articles and reviews
- Festival Fireworks Concert The Grand Finale to Edinburgh's Festivals (last held in 2019)
Box Office: EIF Tickets 2025
EIF 2025 tickets can be booked from 12noon on 27 March. EIF members and supporters getting advance booking.
In 2024, Festival tickets were set using a dynamic pricing model, introduced in 2023.
Half of Festival 2024 tickets will be sold at £30 or under, with free tickets available for young musicians.
A limited number of £10 Affordable Tickets will be available for every performance in the 2024 programme:
“Enter promo code INVITED at checkout to claim this offer. Subject to availability, no proof of eligibility required,” says the web site.
There is priority booking for EIF Friends staggered between the 14th and 19th March 2024. Friends is the membership scheme run by the festival which starts at £60 per year for a "basic" friend membership and rises to the top tier of £1,200 for an "ambassador" level friend. The higher your level of subscription the earlier your access to tickets.
Previous years ticket deals
In 2023, the Festival carried ticket deals such as 50% off for under-18s on selected performances as soon as tickets go on sale; 30% off deals for concession card holders (from July); and £8 on the day for under 26-year-olds for selected performances.
In 2022, the EIF marked its return to strength with 35,000 free festival tickets.