70th Edinburgh Festival will kick off with stunning 'visual celebration' in the city centre

EIF press visualisation of what the event in Edinburgh's St Andrews Sq will look like (EIF)

PREPARATIONS are underway for this year’s opening spectacular of the Edinburgh International Festival, Standard Life Opening Event: Bloom.

With just a week to go until the 70th Edinburgh Festival, Associate Artists 59 Productions, the creators of Standard Life Opening Event: Bloom have shared a first glimpse of what audiences can expect to see and it’s fair to say St Andrews Square looks magical.

The event will take place over a period of two hours on Friday 4^th and Saturday 5^th August on a 20 minute loop, allowing more people than ever before the opportunity to enjoy it.

Everyone can join in the opening celebrations and can queue in George Street for entrance from 10.30pm until midnight. All the first admission tickets for the free event were snapped up as soon as they came out.

Opening event visualisation (59 productions)

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop said: “I never tire of championing Scotland’s outlook as a welcoming and progressive nation and this is particularly demonstrated in the arts. In 1947, the Edinburgh International Festival boldly invited artists from across Europe to perform in the capital. 70 years on, we’re revered as a festival nation that welcomes performers and audiences from every corner of the globe.

It is a fitting tribute to Edinburgh’s legacy as the city that inspired cities around the world to celebrate the arts.”

Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “EventScotland is delighted to once again support the Standard Life Opening Event: Bloom at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Since its inception in 2015, the opening event has truly captured the imagination of festival-goers and opened it up to a whole new audience.

Scotland is the perfect stage for events and we are very proud to have backed Fergus and his team’s vision to launch an event that has gone from strength to strength. In 2017, the

Standard Life Opening Event:Bloom will be a wonderful visual celebration of the Festival’s 70th anniversary and Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.”

The project is a collaboration between Standard Life, EventScotland, the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo fund and the University of Edinburgh.