The Edinburgh International Festival, a charity that brings opera, music, theatre and dance to Edinburgh every August and runs year-round learning work.
The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual event in Edinburgh, Scotland, that brings a curated programme of dance, opera, music and theatre to the city each August. The 2026 festival ran from 7 to 30 August, with 147 performances over 24 days. Its artists are hand-picked rather than open to all, which sets it apart from the open Fringe that grew up beside it. It also runs the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, and the Edinburgh International Festival Society behind it is a Scottish registered charity based at The Hub, Castlehill.
The festival was founded in 1947, after the Second World War, on an idea by Rudolf Bing, the general manager of Glyndebourne, who was a Jewish refugee from the Nazi regime. He worked on the plan with Lord Provost John Falconer, the City of Edinburgh Council and the British Council, and it was announced in November 1945. Its aim was to bring people together across political boundaries through the performing arts. The Fringe began when eight uninvited theatre groups turned up at the first festival. Its vision today is "to provide the deepest experience of the highest quality art for the broadest possible audience".
The festival is based in Edinburgh, and its years of directors include Sir Ian Hunter, Peter Diamand, Sir Brian McMaster, Sir Jonathan Mills and Fergus Linehan. Since October 2022 Nicola Benedetti, the violinist, has been Festival Director, and she is described as the first female director. The page we read does not list venues but mentions Edinburgh Castle, Leith Theatre and Usher Hall in captions. Tickets from £10 are offered for every performance, with discounts for under-18s, under-30s, and disabled and neurodivergent customers.
The festival's pages say it works year-round, with pathways for people of all ages to take part in live performance, from work with primary schoolchildren to mentoring emerging artists. Its stated values emphasise welcoming audiences, respect between artists and audiences, access support such as an Access Pass, and giving context to the work through talks, articles and audio. It also publishes pages on social impact, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion. We did not find staff numbers, so we cannot say how big the full-time team is.
A festival that runs for 24 days but is planned all year needs many kinds of people. Programmers and producers plan the seasons and work with artists; production and technical managers and crews run lighting, sound and staging; venue, front-of-house and ticketing teams look after audiences; the learning and engagement team runs the chorus and community work; and there are roles in marketing, press, digital, fundraising, finance and people. If you like big, busy events that have a deadline, this is a real option. The festival's website has a jobs page.
Website: www.eif.co.uk
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