Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement
Updated July 2024

The Edinburgh International Festival is proud of our nation’s cultural and demographic diversity and aims to be an inclusive, welcoming environment for all artists, audiences and staff.

Created in the aftermath of the Second World War as a counterpoint to the prejudice and division of the preceding decades, with our first director Rudolf Bing being a wartime refugee, the International Festival has always brought people of different cultures and viewpoints together. Celebrating a shared sense of humanity and promoting respect for all is a cornerstone of our founding principles.

In 2022, we conducted an in-depth review of our record in the areas of equality, diversity and inclusion across our programming choices, employment practices and audience reach. We believe that building a long-term inclusive environment involves everyone and have established a steering group comprising Board and staff members at all levels. Together, we have set short and long-term goals across these three areas:

Artistic programme

The Festival presents outstanding and innovative performances from Scotland, the UK and across the world. We commit to reflecting the world on our stages through the widest possible range of artistic voices, in ways that are accessible and meaningful for everyone. 

Programme diversity will be demonstrated both in terms of representation and artistic narratives. We use our influence and work in partnership with artists and companies who share our values in an effort to create lasting change across our industry.

We continue to challenge ourselves rigorously, understanding that the curatorial process is by its very nature subjective. We review our processes and programme choices before and after each Festival season, taking particular care that the voices telling each artistic story are appropriate and relevant.

For 2025, we are prioritising initiatives to improve on-stage representation and further development of access provision for D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists and audiences, as well as creating transformative opportunities for diverse emerging talent.

Our People

We aim to promote an inclusive organisational culture. Our commitments include investing in leadership, training, recruitment, policy reviews, wellbeing initiatives and change development.

We have created staff-led working groups, supporting our commitment to protected characteristics, to understand and embrace diversity in our Festival. We employ temporary and permanent staff from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences. We are taking positive action in our recruitment practices to specifically increase recruitment of D/deaf, disabled & neurodivergent people and people from the global majority, as well as growing entry points into the arts for young people.

Audiences

We aim to connect with cultural audiences around the world and make all Edinburgh residents feel welcome and proud.

Cost shouldn’t be a barrier to cultural discovery, so we have expanded our affordability initiatives, responding to audience needs. 50% of our tickets are for £30 or less, and we offer £10 Affordable Tickets for every single performance, as well as a 50% concession for U18s and D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, and a 30% concession for U30s and Arts Workers.

Our growing provision for D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people includes audio description and touch tours, BSL interpretation, captioning and relaxed performances, the Access Guide and our Access Pass, which enables audience members to share their access requirements before booking, select designated aisle and legroom seats, and book tickets for all accessible performances online.

For 2025, we will be focusing on opportunities for young people to shape their experience of the Festival, and help inform the festivals of the future.