A range of 39 free events have been added to Edinburgh International Festival’s 2023 programme, the first from incoming Festival Director Nicola Benedetti. The free events, and two low-cost in-conversation events, capture the spirit of community and the joy of music making, and join over 300 performances from the world’s leading performers of music, theatre and dance, that take over Edinburgh’s venues and concert halls from 4-27 August 2023.
An Opening Fanfare Weekend taking place from 5-6 August, features brass bands and pipers, rappers and choirs, as over 300 young musicians from Scotland’s vibrant homegrown music scene assemble for an energetic weekend of music-making in Princes St Gardens.
On Saturday 5 August, between 12pm – 5pm Scottish youth and amateur ensembles take over three pop-up stages in the gardens, culminating in a final moment of joint music making at the end of the day. Ensembles featured include Intercultural Youth Scotland, Drake Music Scotland, Tinderbox Collective, Musicians in Exile and the Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir ‘Oberih’. All performances on Saturday are free and entry is non-ticketed.
The iconic Edinburgh Festival Fringe will be back once again in August, and TikTok is proud to return as the Official Virtual Stage for 2023. For the second year running, we’ll be working with this one-of-a-kind celebration of performing arts, helping to bring its artists and shows to even bigger audiences than ever before through TikTok.