Fringe Arts Festival in Edinburgh. The Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival

On August 5, a week before the start of the 65th Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe opens in Edinburgh, Scotland. On the same day, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo kicks off.

Edinburgh International Arts Festival(Edinburgh International Festival)
The International Arts Festival was founded in 1947 with the aim of uniting the peoples of Europe after the Second World War, and is one of the largest annual events of its kind in Europe and the world.

The festival is organized by Edinburgh City Council and the Scottish Arts Council.

The International Arts Festival has strict regulations. Invitations to participate in the International Festival are sent to participants on behalf of the Festival Director.

The festival program includes dozens of different events of different genres of classical art - music, dance, ballet, opera, theater.

The festival is attended by well-known artists and performers, as well as beginner groups.

The International Arts Festival is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world. At the time of its holding, the population of Edinburgh doubles - up to one and a half million people. The large-scale event traditionally ends with a gala concert and fireworks on the main square of the city.

Edinburgh Arts Festival(Edinburgh Art Festival)

The festival was spun off in 2004 from the main Edinburgh International Arts Festival to focus on the visual arts and is today one of the largest visual arts festivals in Scotland. The event is attended by Scottish and foreign artists, whose work is exhibited during the month in museums, galleries and exhibition venues in the city, including both beginners and well-known masters of contemporary fine art.

The festival program consists of numerous solo and general exhibitions, special events and master classes for artists. Often for many young artists participation in the festival gives a chance to start a successful career.

The Edinburgh Arts Festival takes place annually in August-September.

In 2010 the festival celebrated its 60th anniversary. In connection with the anniversary, Queen Elizabeth II awarded the festival with the title of "royal".

International Book Festival(Edinburgh International Book Festival)
in Edinburgh was first held in 1983, its program included 30 events. Since then, the festival has become one of the most important events in the cultural life of the city and one of the brightest and most dynamic festivals in the world.

The festival program today includes more than 700 events: presentations, lectures, meetings with readers and round tables. Hundreds of writers, journalists, politicians, poets and artists from all over the world take part in it.

One of the main parts of the festival program is the discussion part. Every year, writers from all over the world gather for a unique forum, during which authors and the public have the opportunity to discuss the most striking works and topical issues of our time.

In parallel with the main program of the festival, the "Children's Program" takes place, in which children's writers and illustrators of books for children take part.

The Edinburgh Fringe is the world's largest arts festival. In fact, there are several of them at once: musical, ethnic, film, book and the main two - opera and experimental theater.

In August, the Fringe Festival will bring together the most amazing and, at times, frankly strange artists from seven continents in the Scottish capital. Thousands of street musicians, mimes, dancers, jugglers, magicians, comedians and just freaks will turn the central streets of Edinburgh into a kind of huge traveling fair. For three weeks, the city will be filled with extravagant outfits, bright colors of posters, noisy crowds of onlookers and enchanting shows competing for the attention of the audience of the world's largest art festival.

The history of the Fringe Festival began in 1947, when several theater companies that were not included in the program of the first Edinburgh International Festival decided to organize an alternative event focused on a freer understanding of creativity. They held their festival at spontaneous venues throughout the city and received many rave reviews from critics. Since that time, these two events have been held together, and every year the Fringe comes to the fore. The success of the festival is eloquently evidenced by the fact that today it has become a real international franchise. Copies of the Fringe can be found from as far as New York.

Fringe is not only the largest, but also the most affordable festival on Earth. The scale of the event allows to satisfy the tastes of any spectator. Among the many performances, there is sure to be a lot of interesting things both for fans of high art and for lovers of "folk" entertainment. Not one of the two million attendees of the Fringe Festival leaves the Scottish capital disappointed. Each season, the Fringe Festival offers its guests a grandiose program. It will include more than 3,000 performances of various genres - from ballet and drama to fire shows and stand-up comedy. About 50,000 artists from 50 countries of the world will take part in the festival of arts.

By tradition, the main paid concerts will take place at 4 large open areas of the festival: the Pleasance Theater, the Assembly Rooms cultural ensemble, the entertainment complex in the Gilded Balloon mini-castle and the Underbelly inflatable stage. The bulk of the free street performances will take place on the most popular tourist street, the Royal Mile, as well as on Mound Hill. Continuous and round-the-clock happening has made Royal Mile the largest platform in the country for discovering new talents. The famous English comedians Monty Python started their careers here, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson also performed as students.

Today, Fringe is considered a showcase for British comedy and drama. Performances are so spontaneous that even the festival program does not cover what is happening. Spontaneity and unpredictability are the main highlight of this action.

1. Creative travel grant to the Edinburgh Festival

British Council https://www.britishcouncil.ru jointly with the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation announce grants for reimbursement of expenses under the Creative Mission Project to the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The Edinburgh Festival is the world's largest annual performing arts festival, taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two original components of the festival are the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe.

The Edinburgh International Festival provides a unique opportunity to see the best performances from around the world - the most successful productions, unexpected collaborations and new adaptations of classics. The organizing committee of the festival invites recognized theatrical masters, renowned performers of classical and contemporary music, opera and dance. The festival also organizes a number of visual art exhibitions, lectures and master classes.

The Fringe Festival, on the other hand, exists as a kind of alternative to the International Festival - it is an “informal”, mostly street festival that brings together the most amazing, and sometimes frankly strange, artists in the Scottish capital. Thousands of street musicians, mimes, dancers, jugglers, magicians and comedians turn the central streets of Edinburgh into a kind of huge traveling fair. For three weeks, the city is filled with extravagant outfits, brightly colored posters, noisy crowds of onlookers and enchanting shows competing for the attention of the audience of the world's largest art festival.

In 2017, the 70th anniversary Festival will be held, and therefore, the program promises to be especially rich and varied.

Who can apply for a grant: young managers and directors.

Working language of a creative business trip: English.

Selection criteria:

1. High motivational component of the application

2. Experience in the theater over 3 years

3. English proficiency

4. The first experience of a business trip to British festivals

The terms of participation:

The grant covers airfare (economy class), theater tickets in the amount of 10 pieces purchased at the average ticket price. Upon additional request, reimbursement of living expenses is possible (type of accommodation - hostel or apartment for 6-8 people).

The participant pays for himself: visa expenses (a letter of support is provided), individual accommodation, meals, local transport, additional theater tickets.

To participate in the competition for a grant, you must:

2. Get acquainted with the Festival program: Edinburgh International Festival - https://www.eif.co.uk/ Edinburgh Fringe - https://www.edfringe.com/

At the end of the Creative Business Trip, you must provide a meaningful report on the results of the trip.

To clarify the possibilities for providing accommodation, you must send a request in a free form to e-mail. the address [email protected]

Those who have the desire and financial ability to pay all the expenses of their stay at the Edinburgh Festival from 21 to 26 August 2017 on their own can be included in the delegation of the Union of Theater Workers. STD RF provides a letter of support.

Contacts:

Manuilenko Alexandra, +79166451529

Grant 2. Grant to visit the Edinburgh Showcase

British Council https://www.britishcouncil.ru together with the Union of Theater Workers STD RF invites producers, heads of theaters, international theater festivals to visit the Edinburgh Showcase - a special program of the British Council, which takes place every two years during the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe Festival and presents the best new performances of contemporary British theater.

The main goal of the program: establishing international professional contacts, cultural exchange, promoting the development of theatrical art. The showcase's multi-genre program includes performances from visual and physical theatre, interactive and immersive theatre, new drama, as well as live art, installation and dance. In 2017 the Festival celebrates its 70th anniversary, and the British Council Showcase will be held for the 20th time, and the program promises to be rich and interesting.

In addition to viewing productions, the Showcase program includes additional events: business breakfasts, sessions with British companies, receptions on the occasion of the opening and closing of the Showcase.

Working language: English.

Candidates for participation in the Showcase program can be: heads (directors) of theaters, production companies, program managers of theater festivals, actively involved in international activities, collaborations, interested in touring British performances in Russia and cooperation with British theater companies. The delegation of the Union of Theater Workers is formed of 5 people on a competitive basis. The selection decision will be made jointly with the British Council.

The British Council and the Union of Theater Workers of Russia provide support in organizing the trip, cover the cost of an economy class flight to and from Edinburgh, possible accommodation in a double room, and the Showcase registration fee, which allows you to attend up to 20 performances per week.

Participants pay for: visa costs (letter of support provided), accommodation in a private room, meals, local transport.

All Showcase delegates from Russia must be registered through the British Council.

Information about the showcase program can be found here:

If you want to take part in the competition, please send a motivation letter until June 29, 2017 by email address - [email protected]

Program curator from the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation:

Sofia Podvyaznikova, +79154904044

The absolute event of Edinburgh-2016 is the play "Measure for Measure", staged by Shakespeare's play by the Moscow Pushkin Theater. This year the 69th Edinburgh Festival runs from 5 to 29 August. 2442 participants from 36 nationalities and about two million spectators came to Scotland. Little Edinburgh is not afraid of these figures: for 69 years he has become accustomed to the festival and looks forward to it every year. What is the secret of Edi-fest's attractiveness?

The Edinburgh International Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious performing arts festivals in the world. Its history began in 1947. Then post-war Europe needed something to raise morale - a kind of unifying platform for the revival and development of European art. Since then, every summer it has been hosted by the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Scene from the play "Measure for Measure"

Genre diversity inevitably entails genre mixing, and the Edinburgh Festival sees this as a plus rather than a minus. Despite its venerable age, the festival lives for the future, breathes the latest trends and creates them itself. But he is alien to revelry under the slogan "Nothing is too much": the impeccable taste of festival director Jonathan Mills, his requirements for professionalism clearly separate artistic provocation from vulgar speculation and never cross this line.

One of the productions of this season, which is tagged thought-provoking on the festival website, is Mozart's Cosi` fan tutte by French director Christophe Honoré. The exciting theme of the ruthlessness of desire, subjecting fidelity to a severe test, one of Mozart's most passionate and profound operas, received a new reading from Honore. The director placed the quartet of lovers in Ethiopia in the 1930s. Here, in the then Italian colony, the theme of betrayal expands and affects not only the personal sphere, but also the racial one. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, led by the virtuoso Mozart performer Louis Langre, leaves no doubt that, despite the new reading, the main theme of the opera is sex.

There are no boundaries for the festival - not only genre, but also national. Festival director Jonathan Mills has repeatedly stressed that Edi-Fest does not want to be limited to Europe and teaches the audience to be open to the cultures of the whole world. It is not the first year that he has been demonstrating ways of cross-cultural interaction. One of the brightest stars of this event is Akram Khan, a Brit of Indian origin, a representative of the younger generation of dancers and choreographers. His production of Ghotto Desh is a visual-dance performance where stage movement interacts with animated symbols of Bengal - the jungle and its inhabitants. This touching story of a boy turning to his small homeland in search of self-identification is a truly mystical and bewitching sight.

Russians in Edinburgh: theater, opera, ballet

Over the years, many Russian performers and theater troupes have visited the festival.

In 1991, Valery Gergiev came here for the first time with the opera troupe of the Mariinsky Theater (then named after Kirov), Petersburgers brought Mussorgsky's operas. The performances went on for a week, with absolute triumph. At that time, the international musical community was not yet familiar with Maestro Gergiev, and the performance at the festival, in a sense, can be considered a world debut and discovery - for both the Mariinsky Theater and the maestro.

Later, Russian performers conquered Edinburgh more than once: the Mariinsky troupe brought to Edinburgh the "Trojans" by Yannis Kokkos, "Cinderella" by Alexei Ratmansky. Dmitriy Krymov's Dramatic Arts Lab screened A Midsummer Night's Dream and won the Edinburgh International Performing Arts Festival's only award, The Bank of Scotland Herald Angel. Over the years, our orchestras, musicians, singers and dancers shone at the festival. 2016 is no exception.

Among those who performed at the opening concerts this year is the Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky. On August 12–13, Natalia Osipova, Russian ballet prima, who has been a soloist at the London Royal Ballet for the past few years, presents a premiere performance specially prepared for her. The announcement for the performance says: “She is the embodiment of the natural elements, a bright star in the world of dance, and this performance is a celebration of her impeccable technique, lively character and energizing energy.” On August 15, the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra will give a performance: the audience will be presented with Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold.

The absolute event of Edinburgh-2016 is the play "Measure for Measure" by the Moscow Pushkin Theater. In 2016, the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare is celebrated, and the joint production of the Pushkin Theater and the theater company Cheek by Jowl, created by British director Declan Donnellan, continues its triumphal procession around the world at the festival: the performance has already been seen and appreciated by the audience in Great Britain, Spain, France and USA. In the first week of August, a screening took place in Hamlet's homeland, in the Danish castle of Kronbarg in Elsinore. In Edinburgh, visitors to Scotland will see the performance six times.

“Measure for Measure” is a Shakespearean story about an insecure ruler and his hypocritical viceroy, a confused young man and his fanatical nun sister. The theme of free will and law, impunity and retribution is eternal, like other plots of the great Briton, and therefore finds a lively response in the minds and souls of the audience.

What is interesting: the Shakespearean year "staged" three performances at the festival, and not one of them takes place in the native language of the author, English. In Edinburgh, Shakespeare speaks Russian, French and German. In addition to the Russian-language Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night by Dan Jemmet (France) and Richard III directed by Thomas Ostermeyer (Germany) are presented in Edinburgh. As a truly international event, the Edinburgh Festival demonstrates three different approaches to Shakespeare, but in each play, despite the differences in reading, there is a striking authorial relevance.

The large-scale art festival will continue for another two weeks. Two more weeks of world-class art work. Every evening is a new opportunity to immerse yourself in creative performance, new interpretations of the classics, amazing premieres, and all this in the medieval scenery of the Scottish capital. Two million viewers can only be envied.

The Edinburgh Festival is the general name of the festival events that take place simultaneously in the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, every summer. In addition to the largest and most prestigious event - the Edinburgh International Arts Festival - at the moment there are more than two dozen names on the list of festivals. Among them are the Edinburgh Fringe, the Book Festival, the Asian Culture Festival, the Edinburgh Film Festival, the Parade of Military Bands, the Comedy Festival, and the Internet Festival. Although the festivals are held by different organizations that are not related to each other, they are perceived by visitors as one event. The Edinburgh International Arts Festival is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world.