Fireworks bring curtain down on Edinburgh Festival

The fireworks brought the Festival to a close. Picture: Andrew O'Brien

The fireworks concert was expected to bring an estimated 250,000 people onto the streets of Edinburgh to watch over 4 tonnes of explosives and 400,000 fireworks light up the sky against the iconic backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

The concert closed Edinburgh’s festival season with a 45 minute fireworks display choreographed to live orchestral music played in Princes Street Gardens.

Millions of people have visited Edinburgh throughout August to watch comedy, theatre and music shows as well as a number of free outdoor performances such as Harmonium, a choral work by American composer John Adams, featuring a light show projected on to the Usher Hall.

Almost 2.3 million tickets have been issued for 50,000 Edinburgh Fringe events, while the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) has taken in £3.8 million in ticket sales.

EIF director Fergus Linehan said: “All that remains is for us to thank the hundreds of artists and hundreds of thousands of audience members who continue to make the Edinburgh International Festival one of the wonders of the arts world.

“This alliance of artists, audiences, government agencies, the media, donors and sponsors is unprecedented and all of us at the Festival office are deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to contribute to this remarkable organisation. We will continue to seek out artists of the highest calibre and present their work to the widest possible audience.”