Edinburgh Festival shows the power of culture in our fractured world

The Herald Scotland

17-06-2025

Peter Florence, the former Director of Hay Festival, put it simply: 'When politics and society pull people apart, festivals are invaluable places to bring people together.'
This belief is in the DNA of the Edinburgh International Festival. It was our founding purpose in 1947, when a Jewish refugee and opera director named Rudolf Bing, alongside civic leaders and artists, envisioned a way to heal post-war Europe – not through politics or hard power, but through culture.
The idea of that original festival – which still resonates in our meeting rooms, green rooms, theatres and concert halls today – was to use the arts to transcend division and bring people of disparate nations together.
Edinburgh still maintains that purpose, and as Tereza Raabová, from Culture Matters, a platform for creative businesses in the Czech Republic, claimed, 'Edinburgh is indeed the city of festivals'.
Alongside the Czech Republic we had truly international representation from Ukraine, Bosnia, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, and dozens of other nations. Some are working in contexts of censorship or underfunding. Others face different pressures – shrinking resources, climate volatility or changing audience behaviours. But the sense of shared purpose was palpable.
Haris Pašović from East West Centre Sarajevo said, 'You could literally see the satisfaction and joy on the shining faces of the participants.'
The important thing now though, is that those conversations move beyond rooms of the like-minded and into more mainstream public and political discourse.
The Edinburgh International Festival is uniquely placed to lead this kind of international cultural dialogue. As the original festival – the one that sparked a global movement – it sits at the heart of what has become one of the world's great cultural ecosystems.
Every August, alongside our sister festivals the Festival Fringe, the International Book, Art and Film Festivals, and the Tattoo – we help transform Edinburgh into a truly international meeting place where ideas and perspectives are exchanged, business is conducted and friendships formed. Together, each year, we form the largest cultural gathering outside the Olympic Games, right here in the capital.
We welcome thousands of artists, producers, diplomats and millions of visitors, every August, putting Scotland on the map and generating more than £600 million for its economy each summer. The chance to host such an event once in a lifetime is something many cities would gladly bid for; that Scotland gets to host it every year is truly a windfall.
What became clear during the summit is that this collective effort – across festivals, borders, and disciplines – can be both insightful and strategic. Festivals, in their very nature, are built on the act of welcoming. As Raabová reflected: 'Festivals seek to blur boundaries and differences between people, seeking common interests and understanding.'
This is not just sentiment – it is a form of soft power. Showing that our country is a welcoming and open place for the exchange of ideas, is critical in a world where democratic institutions are being tested, and global crises require long-term, human-centred thinking. A particularly resonant moment from the summit came in a session titled 'Being Good Ancestors'. It asked not just what festivals can do now, but what kind of world we want to leave behind.
That question echoed with Llaria Laaghi, from Lugo Music Festival, Romania, she had 'never thought of [her] work in those terms before… to think of festivals as a way of spreading peace, to leave something to the next generations.' But that's exactly what the best of gatherings do. They create space to seek different truths.
That sentiment underpins our programme this year, with the theme The Truth We Seek. This year, and indeed every year, we will support artists in telling complex and difficult stories, sharing with us a perspective on the world that we cannot hope to glean from the internet or TV alone. They give audiences the chance to connect across differences by being in the same physical space – and, through that, to encourage new or deeper thinking.
The Edinburgh International Festival will continue to do just that. We will present the highest quality art for the broadest possible audience. But more than that, we will convene and spark conversation, with an unshakeable belief in the role festivals can play in our future.
Francesca Hegyi is Chief Executive, Edinburgh International Festival