Edinburgh City Guide - Culture

Edinburgh is right at the heart of Scottish culture during the annual Edinburgh International Festival and the flurry of festivals that surround it. However, even without this, the city has a flourishing cultural scene.

Tickets to the Edinburgh Festival, the Hogmanay party and many other cultural events are available from The Hub, Castlehill (tel: (0131) 473 2015; website: www.thehub-edinburgh.com). Tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival are issued by the Edinburgh Fringe Office, 180 High Street (tel: (0131) 226 0026; website: www.edfringe.com). All other tickets can be purchased from the venues.

The Military Tattoo has its own ticket office on 32 Market Street (tel: (0131) 225 1188; website: www.edintattoo.co.uk). Ticketmaster (tel: 0870 534 4444; website: www.scotland.ticketmaster.co.uk) and Ticketline (tel: 0870 444 5556; website: www.ticketline.co.uk) also provide tickets for some events and venues.

There is a wealth of information for all the Edinburgh cultural events available online, for the Edinburgh Festival (website: www.eif.co.uk), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (website: www.edfringe.com), the Jazz Festival (website: www.edinburghjazzfestival.co.uk), the Edinburgh Film Festival (website: www.edfilmfest.org.uk), the Book Festival (website: www.edbookfest.co.uk) and the Military Tattoo (website: www.edintattoo.co.uk). A good general online source of information (website: www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk) also provides information on cultural events in the city.

Music: The Usher Hall, Lothian Road (tel: (0131) 228 1155; website: www.usherhall.co.uk), is Edinburgh's finest concert hall and home to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (website: www.rsno.org.uk) though it is closed for a major refurbishment until August 2008. Queen's Hall, Clerk Street (tel: (0131) 668 2019; website: www.thequeenshall.net), is also a popular venue for classical music performances. This former church hosts a world-class programme, headed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (website: www.sco.org.uk). The Edinburgh Playhouse, 18-22 Greenside Place (tel: (0131) 524 3333; website: www.edinburghplayhouse.org.uk), is home to large musical productions, as well as one-off pop concerts.

Theatre: The Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 13-29 Nicolson Street (tel: (0131) 529 6000; website: www.eft.co.uk), specialises in opera, ballet, dance, musical and a variety of productions on a grand scale. It has the biggest stage of any presenting theatre in Britain and is the venue for Edinburgh's most prestigious shows. The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, 30B Grindlay Street (tel: (0131) 248 4800; website: www.lyceum.org.uk), is Edinburgh's leading theatre company. The King's Theatre, 2 Leven Street (tel: (0131) 529 6000; website: www.eft.co.uk), is an elegant Edwardian venue presenting quality drama of a traditional nature, as well as the city's annual pantomime. The Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street (tel: (0131) 228 1404; website: www.traverse.co.uk), focuses on award-winning, exciting and original contemporary plays by Scottish and international writers.

Dance: The main dance centre in Edinburgh is Dance Base (tel: (0131) 225 5525; website: www.dancebase.co.uk), which has classes, workshops and events at 14-16 Grassmarket.

Film: The Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road (tel: (0131) 228 2688; website: www.filmhousecinema.com), is an independent arthouse cinema showing international films and classics. It is also the headquarters for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Multi-screen complexes include the Cameo Cinema, 38 Home Street (tel: (0131) 228 2800), the Odeon Cinema, 118 Lothian Road (tel: 0871 224 4007; website: www.odeon.co.uk), the Vue, Greenside Row (tel: 0871 224 0240; website: www.myvue.com), Vue, Ocean Terminal, Leith (tel: 0871 224 0240; website: www.myvue.com), and the Odeon out of the centre at Kinnaird Park (tel: 0871 224 4007; website: www.odeon.co.uk).

Edinburgh has become an increasingly popular place to make movies and also features in many well-known films. Trainspotting (1996), Shallow Grave (1994), Women Talking Dirty (1999), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and Great Expectations (1998) were all shot or set in Edinburgh. Further Hollywood attention came to Edinburgh with the big budget movie adaptation of the Da Vinci Code (2006), featuring Rosslyn Chapel on the outskirts of the city.

Literary Notes: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), by Muriel Spark, seemed to define the city's traditional image in the 20th century, until Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting was published in 1993. Great writers to have expounded on Edinburgh in earlier periods include Robert Louis Stevenson, whose famous tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) was set in London but based on his experiences of Edinburgh, and Sir Walter Scott in The Waverley Novels (1829-33). JK Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), while sitting in a cafe in Edinburgh and still lives in the city. Ian Rankin's captivating detective novels, starring the hard-nosed Inspector Rebus, delve into the city's dirty underbelly, but also often provide insights into the city informing visitors and raising wry smiles from locals. The latest, Exit Music (2007), is widely regarded as one of his best and is perhaps the last as the nefarious inspector finally retires by the end.