From Julia Donaldson’s energetic rhyming performances to Scotland’s first modern Makar Poetry Award. There is something for everyone to enjoy in our Festival City this year.

The Edinburgh International Festival

Neu! Reekie! #1  and Neu! Reekie! #2
12 August 7pm  and 7 August 7pm
Avant-garde collective Neu! Reekie! have been busy feeding and nurturing an exciting grassroots scene in Edinburgh since 2011, and they’re bringing a typically delicious, eclectic and iconoclastic line-up to the International Festival with this triple threat of international talent.

The Fringe

The Gruffalo, the Witch and the Warthog with Julia Donaldson
Thursday 2 to Monday 27 August 2018, 11.00am
Following a sell-out season in 2015, the UK’s best-selling author Julia Donaldson returns to Edinburgh with a brand-new show featuring Room on the Broom, The Magic Paintbrush, The Ugly Five, Superworm, The Gruffalo and newly released The Cook and the King. The cast of five, including husband Malcolm, bring Julia’s stories to life with songs, puppetry and plenty of help from the audience.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Helping Literature Flourish an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Saturday 11 August 2018, 4pm – 5pm
Being a writer can be a precarious business. With threats to funding and publishers struggling, the networks and communities that support writers have become increasingly important to their creative life. Bringing together a panel from Publishing Scotland, the new National Centre for Writing in Norwich and the RLS Fellowship in France, this discussion explores how we can ensure literature thrives in Scotland and beyond.

Late Nights at the Book Festival with Unbound a series of free and unticketed evening events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Sunday 12 – Monday 27 August 2018, 9pm – 11pm
A nightly literary cabaret of talented voices playing with words, music, illustration, poetry and performance in our Spiegeltent in Charlotte Square Gardens throughout the Festival.

Rehearsed Reading of Muriel Spark’s Doctors of Philosophy to be presented at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Sunday 19 August 2018, 5.30pm
Muriel Spark’s only written work specifically for the stage, Doctors of Philosophy will be brought to life in its entirety in this one-off performance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Edwin Morgan Poetry Award judged by Janice Galloway and John Glenday
Wednesday 22 August 2018, 7pm – 8pm
Conceived by Edwin Morgan before his death in 2010, this Poetry Award is a gesture of characteristic generosity by Scotland’s first modern Makar. Every second year, prize money of £20,000, bequeathed by Morgan, is awarded to a young Scottish poet. Previous winners have included Niall Campbell and Jen Hadfield. Join judges Janice Galloway and John Glenday to find out the winner of the 2018 award.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The Lost Words An Exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Running until Sunday 2 September 2018, 10.30pm – 5.30pm
The Lost Words is a unique collaborative project between writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris. Taking the form of both an exhibition and a book, The Lost Words celebrates the relationship between language and the living world, and of nature’s power to spark the imagination.

The Edinburgh Art Festival

Rembrandt | Britain’s Discovery of the Master An Exhibition at National Galleries Scotland
Running until Sunday 14 October 2018, 10am – 5pm
A unique opportunity to visually experience the exceptionally rich story of Rembrandt’s fame and influence in Britain. An exclusive exhibition only to be shown in Edinburgh offering over 130 works by the master himself, as well as works by some of Britain’s best loved artists.