Spotlight on EIF 2025

For over 75 years, the Edinburgh International Festival has brought the jewels of artistic achievement to Scotland's capital. Through music, opera, dance and theatre, this iconic festival honours traditions, challenges imaginations and unifies cultures into a three-week celebration of the performing arts. It is, therefore, a great privilege to have the Edinburgh International Festival return to Usher Hall this August for a series of outstanding classical concerts.

From the epic eight-hour Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple to the return of the much-loved beanbag concerts, discover a different side to classical music this August.

Three world-renowned orchestras take up residency at the Festival: New York’s NYO2, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra.

This year, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus celebrates its 60th anniversary. Catch them performing with the LSO, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and in the Opening and Closing Concerts.

Experience the unforgettable music from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. Alongside this iconic music, the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra from Wroclaw also perform Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen and pieces from Polish composers Grażyna Bacewicz and Wojciech Kilar.

You may also want to join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and didgeridoo player William Barton for a round-the-world trip. Journey through the vivid musical imagery of Pictures at an Exhibition and discover a world premiere piece from Indigenous Australian composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon.