Recently, 210 cultural leaders from over 40 countries gathered in Edinburgh for the 2025 European Arts Festivals Summit. As they stepped through the doors of The Hub – the International Festival’s home in the heart of Edinburgh – they were welcomed by a keynote from our Festival Director Nicola Benedetti who impressed on them the power of the arts to foster unity and spark civic purpose in a divided world.

In the face of political polarisation, economic uncertainty, and the resurgence of conflict across the world, our gathering felt quietly radical. Festival directors, artists, and policymakers came together to talk, listen, disagree, reconnect, and imagine. It was a reminder that when society feels fractured, festivals can offer something rare and vital – a shared space for exchange.

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........

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