Design a poster for this year’s fireworks extravaganza!

Are you a fantastic artist? Do you enjoy painting, drawing and colouring? Can you bring to life the magic of fireworks? We need your help to create the poster for this year’s Virgin Money Fireworks Concert!

The Edinburgh International Festival is delighted to launch our annual poster competition for primary school children from Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. We are looking for the best and the brightest creations, bringing to life the International Festival’s spectacular Virgin Money Fireworks Concert, with partners Virgin Money, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Forth 1.

The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert is one of Edinburgh’s favourite annual events, bringing together families, visitors and communities from across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife for the grand finale to Edinburgh’s summer festival season. Over 400,000 fireworks choreographed to live orchestral music will light up the sky over Edinburgh against the unique backdrop of the iconic Castle. The event - the largest fireworks concert of its type in the world – is enjoyed annually by around 250,000 people at vantage points across the Scottish capital and its surrounds.

We are looking for colourful and imaginative creations which capture the spirit, excitement and magic of the spectacular Fireworks Concert, which this year takes place on Monday 26 August at 9pm. Entries will be judged by Forth 1 Radio DJs Boogie and Arlene and the winners will see their designs displayed on posters across Edinburgh this summer.

The competition is open for individuals, families and primary school classes to enter.

The prize

As well as seeing their poster designs throughout the city, winners will enjoy an exclusive tour of the Fireworks set-up at Edinburgh Castle and family tickets to see the concert in Princes St Gardens on Monday 26 August 2019.

The winners and other shortlisted entries will also be celebrated with an event at the Virgin Money Lounge in St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh, taking place in late June. This is a special event at the Lounge for the winners and their families, where they will be joined by our Forth 1 judges and invited guests, hosted by Virgin Money with the Edinburgh International Festival and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

How to take part

Competition entries must be from primary school aged children. Entries will be split into two categories: Primary 1-3 and Primary 4-7. Winners will be selected from each category.

Any 2D/flat materials can be used to create the picture, which should be supplied as either A4 or A3 size. If submitting a digital image, images must be 3500 pixels wide by 5000 pixels high and supplied in Jpeg (.jpg) or Tiff (.tif) formats.

Entries must be received by 5pm on the deadline, Thursday 6 June 2019.

Entries should be submitted to Learning & Engagement, Edinburgh International Festival, The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh, EH1 2NE. Digital entries should be submitted to the same address on either a disc or a flash memory stick, or alternately emailed to [email protected].

All entries must be accompanied by a completed application form or have ALL application details printed on the reverse of the entry. Download the information pack here or find out more about entering your primary school class on our Learning & Engagement page.

If you would like more information, please contact Neil Fox in the Edinburgh International Festival Learning & Engagement team on +44 (0)131 473 202 or [email protected].