Calling arts education explorers

Image: Il ritorno d'Ulisse. Photo: Johan Jacobs.

This August we are hosting a summer school for arts educators led by several of the world's leading creative pedagogues. We're looking for arts education explorers to join us!

Heiner Goebbels, Anne Bogart and Charles McNeal are among the artists lined up to work with participants in a programme which gives unparalleled access to Festival 09.

Workshops by Handspring Puppet Company, Lee Breuer and Maude Mitchell, Malcolm Martineau and Andreas Staier, alongside performances, events and discussions on topics like Visual Arts and the Enlightenment or Music and the Enlightenment are included in the programme for participants.

For more info, click here.

Technorati Profile

Box office update

Image: Judas Maccabaeus, Maccabees by Antonio Ciseri (Lebrecht)

Since our box office opened on 4 April a number of Festival 09 events have already sold out and many also have only a limited availability of tickets remaining. Here is a list of the current sold out and limited availability shows from our box office.

SOLD OUT EVENTS
· The Opening Concert - Judas Maccabaeus (14 Aug)
· Lewis Psalm Singers (15 Aug)
· Scotland Exports the Enlightenment Discussion (16 Aug)
· Behind the Scenes - Royal Ballet of Flanders (22 Aug)
· Behind the Scenes -The Discovery of Breath (24 Aug)
· The Testament of Cresseid (29 Aug)
· The Sixteen (3 Sept)
· Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert - Ross Theatre (6 Sept)

LIMITED AVAILABILITY EVENTS
· Behind the Scenes series at The Hub (various dates throughout Festival)
· Visual Art and the Enlightenment Discussion (15 Aug)
· Lisa Milne & Malcolm Martineau (17 Aug)
· The Caledonia Sessions - Triplepipes, Lust and Spilt Blood (20 Aug)
· Elisabeth Leonskaja (22 Aug)
· Music and the Enlightenment: Classical and Vernacular Traditions Discussion (23 Aug)
· Bach Collegium Japan (25 Aug)
· The Caledonia Sessions - Robert Burns's Worldly Friends (26 Aug)
· Experimentum Mundi (2 Sept)
· The Dream of Gerontius (5 Sept)

To purchase your Festival 09 tickets, head to eif.co.uk or call our box office on +44 (0)131 473 2000.

Festival 2009 Programme Launch

Artists from The Caledonia Sessions perform at our programme launch party. Photo: Peter Sandground.

On 25 March we launched our 2009 programme. To view some photos from our Programme Launch photocall, press conference and party, check out our Flickr gallery here.

Director Jonathan Mills introduces Festival 09

Not sure what to book for or looking for some tips on what this year's hot tickets might be? Listen to Festival Director Jonathan Mills introduce Festival 09 in the short video clip below. To view Part 2 and 3 of his Festival introduction, head to our Vimeo site here.

2009 Box Office open for business

As of 10.00am today our box office is open for business! Tickets for Edinburgh International Festival 2009 are now on sale through the following channels:

• online at eif.co.uk
• by phone on +44 (0)131 473 2000
• by posting a booking form to Edinburgh International Festival
  (The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh UK, EH1 2NE)
• in person at Hub Tickets, Castlehill, Edinburgh

Follow us on Twitter at eif.co.uk/twitter and and join our Facebook group at eif.co.uk/facebook for the latest updates on ticket availabilities and sold out shows.

Anatomy of a Festival: Photo Gallery

Aaron Sillis warming up for a performance of Dorian Gray. Photo: Caroline Douglas.

Performances are the wonderful tip of the iceberg of all the hard work needed to stage a Festival, and are what make it all worthwhile.

Artists spend much of their time in Edinburgh rehearsing in venues or school halls, gyms and other incongruous settings. Technical, production, artist liaison and stage management staff work hard to ensure stages, costumes, lights and instruments are ready both for rehearsals and performances. Local people can become Festival celebrities for a moment and share the plaudits and attention with our international artists. And sometimes there are even moments of stillness and respite from the hectic pace of the Festival and the city.

Last year photographer Caroline Douglas spent three weeks working around the clock, running across the city capturing on film the essence of the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival. This selection of images offers a glimpse under the skin of the Festival and of its very bones.

To view the photo gallery, click here