The Edinburgh International Festival has announced details of next year’s programme.
The theme for the 2024 festival, the second one under director Nicola Benedetti, will follow the theme of the “Rituals That Unite Us”.
Five opera productions will feature in the programme, including a new version of Carmen created by the French company that first staged it in 1875.
This production, led by German director Andreas Homoki, celebrates Carmen’s 149-year legacy on a replica stage of the Parisian opera house Opéra-Comique, the venue in which the opera premiered in 1875.
Seven iron doors constructed by Gustave Eiffel, the creator of Paris’s famous tower, will feature in the production.
Major dance work, Assembly Hall, will make its Scottish premiere at the month-long event.
Set in a community centre, it follows a group of medieval re-enactors coming together for their annual general meeting, a tradition that for the group serves as a bridge between the past and the present.
Assembly Hall. Credit: Michael Slobodian
In 2023, 500 amateur and professional musicians performed in Princes Street Gardens for thousands of audience members.
In 2024, the festival will collaborate with the World Health Organization and Scottish Ballet to host the first nationwide Healing Arts campaign, Healing Arts Scotland.
‘Next year’s Edinburgh International Festival celebrates the unifying force of collective live experiences,’ Nicola Benedett said,
‘We continue to pursue an openness towards diverse perspectives, and in exploring “Rituals That Unite Us” reflect our deeply human need to connect with one another.
‘When beliefs differ, when we are not aligned over a shared singular fight, it is always an effort, always tricky, always messy.
‘But this is what our festival was founded to do.
‘People use the word ‘soft’ when speaking of the power of the arts, but to open hearts and minds is the toughest and most serious thing we can offer people.
‘It all starts with belief and trust. We led with this feeling in 2023, and we will deepen it in 2024.’
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