75th birthday

The director of the Edinburgh International Festival has pledged to expand the event’s global appeal in the run up to its 75th anniversary in 2022.

Ferguslinehanhasmade a new commitment to ensure parts of the world beyond Europe and the English-speaking countries gain greater representation as part of a wideranging blueprint for the event’s future.

They also want to tackle head-on the biggest issues being debated internationally and to ensure the festival showcases the most ground-breaking and confrontational art being created around the world.

Mr Linehan said: “We’ve probably been a bit homogenised in terms of being very European in recent years.

“There has been a bit of a gravitational pull away from other countries.”