Edinburgh International Festival reveals 2024 programme

The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) has today unveiled the programme for its upcoming an festival. Set to run from 2 to 25 August in the Scottish city, the 2024 festival marks the second year of Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti at the helm. General booking for the festival opens on 21 March.

Centred around the theme of ‘Rituals That Unite Us’, this year’s festival aims to bring audiences ever closer to the artists with concerts in immersive formats and a commitment to make 50% of tickets £30 or under alongside free tickets for young musicians, and £10 affordable tickets for every performance. Audiences will also encounter performers at the festival’s Hub on the Royal Mile and through a new Community Connections Hub set to host a 360 Virtual Reality experience of The Lark Ascending.

Festival director Nicola Benedetti said: ‘As we join forces with the world's greatest artists and bring them here to Edinburgh, we do so with a deeper dedication to our audience. This year the Edinburgh International Festival inaugurates new and reimagined rituals, honouring tradition and innovation, to bind us closer together. We invite you to seek and gather with us this August – there is always something new to discover.’

The 2024 festival will open with a 10,000+ outdoor multi-arts event created in partnership with single malt Scotch Whisky, The Macallan inspired by Scotland’s rich cultural heritage. The opening weekend will present two interpretations of the Passion: JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion will be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and will contrast with the Scottish premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos, which fuses Latin American, Afro-Cuban and classical influences and is performed by a specially-formed orchestra alongside the Schola Cantorum of Venezuela, the National Youth Choir of Scotland and soloists.

The festival’s opera offering will include Opéra Comique’s production of Bizet’s Carmen, Komische Oper Berlin’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and a Scottish Chamber Orchestra production of Così fan tutte, plus a new production of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex by Scottish Opera which will be performed in promenade with a 100-strong community chorus at the National Museum of Scotland. Richard Strauss’s final opera Capriccio will close the festival with the return of festival regular Sir Andrew Davis, who made his professional operatic debut with the opera.

The festival will continue to provide a platform for early career performers with a range of performances pairing emerging musicians with professional mentors. The Hub will host two concerts of Rising Stars selected by open auditions and the emerging artists from last year’s Exploring Mendelssohn concert return to the stage.

The Philharmonia Orchestra continues its residency at the festival with a family concert and VR experience featuring festival director and violinist Nicola Benedetti, an elegy for the 146 victims of New York’s 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire with Marin Alsop and the female voices of the National Youth Choir of Scotland with every victim represented by a choir member, and a collaboration with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus for a performance of Verdi’s Requiem.

The Bamberger Symphoniker also return as festival residents with a performance of Hans Rott’s First Symphony and works by Antonín Dvořák and Johannes Brahms, and a family-friendly event combining live performance, projections and presentation. São Paulo-based artist collective Ilumina are also resident, presenting two beanbag concerts and two performances in The Hub. 

Creative Scotland chief executive Iain Munro said: ‘Nicola Benedetti continues to drive the Edinburgh International Festival programme forward in her second year as Director with another inspired artistic offering. This year’s thematic focus on unity and togetherness provides opportunities to blur the lines between artist and audience, promoting connection and communal experience in our increasingly divided world. The International Festival continues to earn its reputation as a shining light in the global cultural calendar by uniting people through great art.’

On 17 August Sir Mark Elder will give his final performance as Hallé Orchestra music director after a 24-year tenure with a performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus at Usher Hall.