New Town to glow

● Event to recall aim to provide ‘platform for the flowering of the human spirit’

Spectacular explosions of colour will burst on to the streets of Edinburgh’s New Town to commemorate the emergence of its world-leading cultural celebration in the aftermath of the Second World War.

A huge swathe of the New Town will be transformed into a “magical night garden” for several hours under plans for the Edinburgh International Festival’s 70th anniversary curtain-raiser.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to fill the streets until the early hours of the morning for the event, which aims to recall the “outpouring of joy” created by the original Festival and its transformation of the city in the post-war years. It is expected to be one of the highlights of a “celebration of internationalism” theme.

Director Fergus Linehan has lined up ten days of special events tackling the current political landscape in the in the UK and around the world, exploring “what it means to be European” and how the event’s founding ideals still resonate.

Artists and companies from across Europe have been invited to the Festival, which will tackle “the fracturing of civilisation” and “stay true to the belief the arts have the power to bring people together”.

The free opening event, Bloom, will see the east end of the New Town transformed by light and sound installations and projections inspired by the 1947 ambitions of the Festival to provide “a platform for the flowering of the human spirit.” Around 30,000 tickets will be given away for a 10:30pm performance, but organisers hope to let thousands more experience the special effects.

Mr Linehan said: “At a time of crisis in 1947 the solution was perceived as, ‘Let’s just makes connections, let’s push out in terms of our terms of reference, let’s look at Europe.’

“We’re very conscious of the way people talk about the war years in Edinburgh, when the street lights weren’t on and people wouldn’t wear colourful clothing because they felt it was inappropriate. Suddenly the castle was lit up, there were flowers all the way down Princes Street, and there was a sense of respite and joy.

“We want to capture that moment of everything being drab, dark and overly serious and then everything suddenly exploding into colour. We want to warm the soul up a little bit.”

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