Edinburgh International Festival to be revived with outdoor event 'The Ghost Lights'

The Edinburgh International Festival is to burst back into life this August with a spectacular night-time event aimed at bringing "joy" back to the city's residents and reminding the rest of the world that the Scottish capital is still “the Festival City."

The Edinburgh International Festival says 'The Ghost Lights' event will be staged 'across the city' throughout August. Picture: Edinburgh International Festival

First details of The Ghost Lights, which will transform locations “across the city” throughout August, were revealed today by the festival, two and a half months after its official cancellation for the first time in its history.

It has been announced that the one-off event will combine "spectacle, performance and participation.”

Inspired by the tradition of leaving a light on in a theatre that would otherwise be completely dark, organisers say that when it is staged it will be “letting the world know that the spark of the Festival still burns bright.”

The Ghost Lights is the first major new outdoor event to be confirmed for Edinburgh this August since the official cancellation of the city’s main summer festivals at the beginning of April.

The Scottish Government last week gave the country’s tourism industry a provisional reopening date of 15 July. It coincides with the third phase of its route map out of lockdown, which also permits the first live events to be staged.

The festival has not announced any details of locations for The Ghost Lights, how people will be able to experience the event or whether it be a ticketed event.

A spokesman said it would not involve any large gatherings of crowds and would be staged in line with the government’s latest coronavirus guidelines.

The EIF has staged a number of free light shows as curtain-raisers to the three-week cultural extravaganza in recent years. Last year’s festival opened with an open-air concert of classic movie themes, which was staged at Tynecastle Park, home of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Today’s announcement from the EIF said: “For over 70 years, each August the Edinburgh International Festival has welcomed artists and audiences from Scotland, the UK and over the world.

“In 2020, we must put this to one side as we ensure our readiness to play our part in artistic, social and economic recovery.

“In the meantime, the Festival team has been working hard to explore new and interesting ways to mark the festival season in a way that will bring some joy to our community and remind the world of the incredible experience that is the Festival City.

“We are currently working with a number of partners on a project we have called The Ghost Lights, a collaboration that merges spectacle, performance and participation.

“A ghost light is a small, single bulbed light, usually a floor lamp that shines on the dark stage when a theatre or concert hall is closed and unoccupied.

“It is a symbol that, while the performance is over for now, the building will, once again, be filled with laughter, tears and applause.

“The Ghost Lights will incorporate a series of artistic interventions across the city throughout the month of August, letting the world know that the spark of the Festival still burns bright.

“We look forward to sharing further details over the coming weeks and months.”