First look inside spectacular Edinburgh International Festival curtain raiser overlooking Edinburgh Castle

The 17th-century George Heriot’s building will be lit up by dramatic projections while its grounds will play host to actors, music, song, storytelling and art installations, as well as fire effects, at the three-night curtain-raiser for the explosion of culture being staged across the Scottish capital this month.

Around 3,000 festivalgoers are expected to attend each night of Where to Begin, which the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) has commissioned under a new partnership with Scotch whisky brand The Macallan.

The event is the first time that George Heriot’s, which has been compared to fictional wizarding school Hogwarts by many Harry Potter fans due to its turreted main building, has been used for the EIF.

Each audience will gather for the finale of the event in the rear grounds of the school, which enjoys dramatic views of Edinburgh Castle.

Event producers Pinwheel have assembled a 50-strong team to work on the event, which has drawn inspiration from the origins and evolution of the 77-year-old festival, Scottish rituals and traditions, the production of whisky and the city’s unique landscape.

Tickets are still available for all three nights of Where to Begin, which will get underway at 9.45pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Pinwheel creative director Katy Fuller said: "When you come into George Heriot’s, there will hopefully be a real sense of expectation and anticipation, as the building, which is such a beautiful canvas, will be lit up.

"As you come around the corner into the grounds, you will start to see immersive and atmospheric installations. We will have beautiful lights, warm fire, lots of interactions with performers and really atmospheric, hypnotic music.

“We hope there will be a real sense of something brewing. It will be quite exploratory and people will be able to explore things at their own pace. There will then be a moment when everything starts to come more urgently to life and everyone will congregate to the rear of the building.”

Where to Begin will feature the voice of award-winning Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart, who has recorded a new song specially commissioned for Where to Begin from composer Roma Yagnik, with lyrics by Davey Anderson and Simon Sharkey.

Ms Fuller said: "The story that we’re all there to witness is that we have come together to awaken the festival spirit. We will see the energy and power that will light up the city for the rest of the month.

"The festival has a theme of ‘rituals that unite us’ this year. We really wanted to play with that, the idea that there is this latent energy underneath Edinburgh, and that we can kick-start that festival spirit into happening.

"It is only when the audience comes together with the artists that the alchemy happens and that moment can take off. It will be a really varied experience and a fairly bold departure for the International Festival, while still playing with things that are really important, like artists and audience.

"It will be very visceral, there will be lots of immersion and visual spectacle. But there will also be tiny moments of intimacy, where you can interact one-on-one with a performer. There will also be a little surprise at the end which I think will be extremely emotional.”