Edinburgh International Festival 2026 preview supplement: e-mag

You can read the e-mag version of the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival preview supplement here

Earlier this month, the United States of America celebrated its 250th anniversary with, among other things, a 40-minute long fireworks display in Washington DC, a huge flotilla of military vessels and tall ships from all around the world setting sail from New York’s Hudson River and, on the South Lawn of the White House, a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). This year’s Edinburgh International Festival will also offer a multi-faceted picture of the US at 250 – as the festival’s artistic director Nicola Benedetti puts it, the 2026 event will explore “both the dazzling and the dark possibilities of the American dream.”

In our 2026 EIF preview supplement, our critics take an in-depth look some of the American or American-themed productions in this year’s programme.

Opera director Adele Thomas tells David Kettle why setting Verdi’s A Masked Ball in Gilded Age America offers thought-provoking parallels with the present; singer-songwriter Mark O’Connor – among the musicians who withdrew from the Donald Trump-endorsed 250th celebrations in Washington DC – tells Jim Gilchrist why the very act of writing or playing American music is a political act; and Ken Walton looks at the incredible impact the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel has had on the LA Philharmonic in his 17 years with the orchestra.

With artificial intelligence looking increasingly like the technology that will come to define our current century, Kelly Apter talks to choreographer Aszure Barton about her new AI-inspired work for San Francisco Ballet; and on this spread, theatre-maker Geoff Sobelle tells Joyce McMillan why clowning might offer a useful way of understanding the American psyche and why, in spite of everything, he remains an optimist about the future of his country. Should we share at least a little of that optimism? Read on to find out.

The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today

Enjoying the Arts & Culture journalism on scotsman.com? Make it easier to find by selecting us as a preferred Google source

Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here