Brian Ferguson: A year of anniversaries

Planning for the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh International Festival may have begun years in advance. But poet Christine De Luca was given just three weeks for a special British Council commission to mark the occasion.

Poet Christine De Luca. Picture: Greg Macvean

The Edinburgh Makar was tasked with reflecting on the ­origins of the event, set up in the wake of the Second World War to create a unifying force for good which would bring warring nations together.

She made good use of the online treasure trove the EIF has created for the 70th ­anniversary, which recalls how the event had to overcame problems caused by post-war rationing – thanks to donations from the good people of Edinburgh.

As the Makar has ­recorded in her Spirit Of ’47 poem: “Each obstacle was resolved: water and alcohol in short supply – afternoon tea, ­darling?

“Ring the Fire Brigade! Pull a few strings – whisky galore!

“The sun shone, audiences filled theatres, cafés buzzed, the critics were ecstatic.”

An anniversary somewhat overlooked this month amid the 70th birthday ­celebrations for EIF and the Fringe is that of the Film Festival, which also launched in 1947.

An hour of cinematic nostalgia is on offer at the Rose Theatre from Grant Stott and Andy Gray, who play friends acting out scenes from the favourite movies as they clear out their much-loved cinema before it is redeveloped into executive flats.

Gray’s character almost earned a standing ovation with his passionate diatribe about everything that is wrong about the modern-day cinema experience – rivalling Mark Kermode’s famous rants for the BBC.

• Without giving anything away, there is an eerie undertone buried behind the banter between the two characters. But even that is not as spooky as the announcement, just before the Fringe, that one of Edinburgh’s ­forgotten Art Deco cinemas is about to be turned into...executive flats.

• One of the more eccentric characters I encountered at the Fringe’s Meet the Media event was the performance artist Walter DeForest.

Not content with appearing in his one-man show about Vincent Van Gogh, DeForest is a familiar figure, painting portraits on the Royal Mile.

Today, he will be attempting to break his own record of drawing 160 of them.

Watch the action unfold beside the David Hume ­statue on the High Street from 8am.