Edinburgh Art Festival | 29 July—29 August 2021
“Edinburgh was once an art desert at festival time. Yes, there were alternative comedians hiding under every manhole cover, but if you were a lover of the visual arts there was little reason to go. Until 2004, when the Edinburgh Art Festival was founded, and everything got better.” Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times
Founded in 2004, Edinburgh Art Festival is the platform for the visual arts at the heart of Edinburgh’s August festivals, bringing together the capital’s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces in a city-wide celebration of the very best in visual art. Each year, the Festival features leading international and UK artists alongside the best emerging talent, major survey exhibitions of historic figures, and a special programme of newly commissioned artworks that respond to public and historic sites in the city. The vast majority of the festival is free to attend.
Alongside the main festival programme is an annual series of learning and engagement activities around the Commissions Programme and partner exhibitions as well as bespoke tours, workshops and projects for community groups and organisations inspired by the work of the participating artists.