The Edinburgh Festival returns to the streets of the Scottish Capital

The annual Edinburgh Festival returns to the streets of the Scottish Capital, Edinburgh. The usual serene and relaxed city of Edinburgh will become engrossed with performers, from all fields, and tourists alike with the population of the city expected to double. In 2014, the festival saw 49,497 performances of 3,193 shows in 299 venues, making it the largest ever arts festival in the world.

The Fringe and International Festival were both first established in 1947 in an attempt to "provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit" after the Second World War which tore through Europe.

However, The Edinburgh Festival is an umbrella term for the all of the different festivals that take place in Edinburgh during around the time of August, they include: the Comedy Festival, the Fringe Festival, the Arts Festival, the International Festival, the Book Festival on top of the world famous Military Tattoo. Nevertheless, that is just a small flavour of the events happening within the Scottish Capital during the month of August.

Not only do the different festivals take place, but the city becomes a haven of culture with acts and spectators coming from all corners of the globe to take in the ambiance and atmosphere on show in Edinburgh. The whole city transforms into a carnival atmosphere, with something happening wherever you look – sometimes leaving you to not know where to look.

Domestically, 290,000 people within the UK travel to Edinburgh during August – compared to a usual 186,000 in July, boosting the economy by £73 million. On top of that, 174,000 visitors internationally come to Edinburgh to experience the festival, adding a further £63 million to the economy.