The Edinburgh International Festival is the original Edinburgh festival set up after the war in 1947 to encourage cultural and economic development in Edinburgh. It is now considered the most significant cultural events in the western world.

The International differs from the fringe in that aims to showcase only the most accomplished artists from the world of theatre, opera, dance and music, stating that it aims to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’.

Whereas The Fringe allows anyone to set up and perform, with all the obvious risks that this entails, The International has an artistic director who invites selected artists to perform, so the standard is maintained at a very high level, it just doesn’t have the anarchic qualities that makes the Fringe so popular.

The International is the place for seeing world renowned, established performers at the very top of their artistic talents.

2009 sees the festival running from 14th August – 06th September and promises to be another fine year of performing arts.

When you are in Edinburgh you can visit the International’s central focus point in the centre of the town, called The Hub. This old listed building with spires that tower over the Royal Mile, Edinburgh’s main road to the castle, is a listed building which was formerly called The Highland Tolbooth. You can visit The Hub all year round; it is open to the public as an artistic space exhibiting contemporary arts and crafts, light sculptures, tiling, stained glass and stunning sculpture hall. This is also where you can buy tickets to future shows, and it also has an excellent cafe.