Edinburgh International Festival: Nicola Benedetti to give exclusive Q&A for Scotsman subscribers - how to get tickets

In her first year as festival director, Nicola Benedetti has big plans

Nicola Benedetti will give a one-off Q&A exclusively for Scotsman subscribers after revealing her first Edinburgh International Festival programme.

The award-winning violinist is the first woman, and first Scot, to be appointed EIF director and has spoken already about her vision to attract a new, younger and more diverse, audience.

On Thursday May 4 the 35-year-old will answer questions and give more details to 50 Scotsman readers at The Hub in Edinburgh.

A small number of tickets are still exclusively available to subscribers – you can join the waitlist here or become a subscriber, with the first month free, here. The event will also be livestreamed on The Scotsman’s Facebook page.

New director driving new ideas

Benedetti has declared that the year’s festival, running from August 5-28 this year, is on a “trajectory of breaking down audience-to-artist barriers”.

The 2023 programme contains 295 separate events and artists set to perform include the likes of Alison Goldfrapp, Jake Bugg, Velvet Underground and John Cale among many more.

Nicola Benedetti is marking her first year as Edinburgh International Festival's Director PICTURE: Mihaela Bodlovic

The festival’s Royal Mile headquarters will be turned into an “open to all” green room hosting free events every afternoon, with shows catering for children as young as six part of this summer’s line-up.

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