Relive some of the spectacular performances of August 2019 with footage we captured throughout the Festival run.

Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event: LA Phil at Tynecastle

This year, we kicked off 2019 International Festival proceedings with the Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event: LA Phil at Tynecastle as Gustavo Dudamel and his Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra brought us a brilliant selection of movie music from films including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Vertigo, E.T. and many more.

Music

We returned to Leith Theatre with Edinburgh Gin this year where some of the most exciting voices in contemporary music today performed to crowds night after night, including Britpop legend Jarvis Cocker with his new project JARV IS... From the bright lights of Leith Theatre to the packed houses of the Usher Hall, our four year Ring cycle also came to an epic conclusion with Wagner's Götterdämmerung, performed by Sir Andrew Davis, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Christine Goerke.

Theatre

With world and European premieres, and works from Sydney to Amsterdam, Lagos to Nunavut, the 2019 theatre programme brought an eclectic mix of relevant and powerful stories from around the world to Edinburgh. We also highlighted two very different Scottish stories, from myth to memoir, as Peter Gynt reimagined Ibsen's classic while Red Dust Road provided a beautiful adaptation of Jackie Kay's own autobiographical journey.

Learning & Engagement

On 20 August, the ladies from HEAR WORD! Naija Woman Talk True swapped The Lyceum for a pop-up performance at Culture Lounge Hair Salon in Leith as part of our Global Communities project. The International Festival hosted ladies night at the salon, with local African women and customers of the salon invited to eat, drink, dance, and enjoy extracts from the show.

The International Festival has been running Learning & Engagement projects for 25 years, connecting with thousands of people every year. From Primary School classical music initiatives to our residency partnership with Leith Academy, from cultural gatherings in communities to professional development opportunities for the artistic sector, the International Festival aims to reach as many people as possible of all ages both locally and internationally.

This year, the International Festival has worked with children, young people and communities across Edinburgh on 30 projects, engaging with over 15,000 participants.

You Are Here

In a season of performances, conversations, readings and fresh thinking, passionate artists from around the globe invited audiences to explore where we are now and, more importantly, where we are headed.

Performances from world-leading artists and companies offered extraordinary insight and comment on a local, global and human level and laid bare striking and personal stories that connect our everyday. You Are Here allowed artists to share fresh perspectives and diverse insights shaped by who they are and where they’re from.