Edinburgh International Festival Heritage in Pictures: Here are 24 amazing photos of the festival from the 1950s and 1960s - including some famous faces

There’s now less than two weeks until the various Edinburgh festivals to turn every possible place in Scotland’s capital into a performance venue.

Taking place (almost) every August, the Edinburgh International Festival was the original event - a celebration of culture that sees notable artists from the world of music and performing arts invited to showcase their work in the Scottish Capital.

The first Internation Festival, then called the 'International Festival of Music and Drama' took place in 1947, with Austrian-born impresario Rudolf Bing acting as festival director and head of programming.

It featured orchestral, choral and chamber music, Lieder and song, opera, ballet, drama, film, and Scottish 'piping and dancing' on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle.

Read more: Edinburgh International Festival joins forces with two European festivals to mark ambitions for 80th year

It has taken place every year since, other than 2020 when it was completely cancelled due to the global pandemic.

The original idea for the Festival was to enrich cultural life following the Second World War, and it was first financed by £10,000 in winnings that Lord Rosebery made from his horse Ocean Swell - a sum that was matched by Edinburgh Town Council.

Since then it has grown in strength, and is joined by a number of other festivals during August, including the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and, most notably, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Festival Director Nicola Benedetti is now looking forward to the 2026 edition, which tun from August 7-30.

We’ve raided The Scotsman’s photo archive to take a look at what the Edinburgh International Festival look like over half a century.

Here are 24 of the best pictures.

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