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Scotsman
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025: How to buy tickets - dates, venues, who is appearing
The Edinburgh International Book Festival is returning to the Scottish capital this August - and will run across a fortnight of events, including appearances from Nicola Sturgeon and Alice Oseman. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Edinburgh International Book Festival has unveiled its programme for this year. Here, The Scotsman takes a look at who is appearing and how and when to buy tickets - as well as answering all of your key questions around the event. When and where is the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival? The festival will run from August 9 to 24 . Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This will be the second year the event will take place at its new home in the Edinburgh Futures Institute, near the Meadows. Who is speaking at this year's festival? Scottish authors Irvine Welsh and Maggie O'Farrell are to join Heartstopper writer Alice Oseman, as well as former first minister Nicola Sturgeon at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. Getty Images Outlander star Sam Heughan will also give a cocktail class to promote his new book of cocktail recipes, while actors Brian Cox, Viggo Mortensen and Vanessa Redgrave will take part in events. Other highlights of the programme can be viewed here. The festival's programme is based around the theme of Repair, seeking to explore things which feel broken and looking at how they could be fixed – from the physical to the political, the emotional to the environmental, and beyond. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What are the venues? The layout is likely to be fairly similar to last year's event. However, the book festival will have an extended bar area and a specially- created Kids Zone. A bookshop will remain on site, where author signings will take place. Events will take place both inside and outside the Futures Institute, as well as a series of events known as the Front List in nearby McEwan Hall. The Edinburgh International Book Festival is returning to the Futures Institute for a second year. | contributed Venue T is the main venue within the Futures Institute building. There is also a Courtyard Theatre outside, as well as a Spiegeltent in the grounds and the Children's Tent.
Scotsman
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025: How to buy tickets - dates, venues, who is appearing
The Edinburgh International Book Festival is returning to the Scottish capital this August - and will run across a fortnight of events, including appearances from Nicola Sturgeon and Alice Oseman. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Edinburgh International Book Festival has unveiled its programme for this year. Here, The Scotsman takes a look at who is appearing and how and when to buy tickets - as well as answering all of your key questions around the event. When and where is the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival? The festival will run from August 9 to 24 . Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This will be the second year the event will take place at its new home in the Edinburgh Futures Institute, near the Meadows. Who is speaking at this year's festival? Scottish authors Irvine Welsh and Maggie O'Farrell are to join Heartstopper writer Alice Oseman, as well as former first minister Nicola Sturgeon at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. Getty Images Outlander star Sam Heughan will also give a cocktail class to promote his new book of cocktail recipes, while actors Brian Cox, Viggo Mortensen and Vanessa Redgrave will take part in events. Other highlights of the programme can be viewed here. The festival's programme is based around the theme of Repair, seeking to explore things which feel broken and looking at how they could be fixed – from the physical to the political, the emotional to the environmental, and beyond. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What are the venues? The layout is likely to be fairly similar to last year's event. However, the book festival will have an extended bar area and a specially- created Kids Zone. A bookshop will remain on site, where author signings will take place. Events will take place both inside and outside the Futures Institute, as well as a series of events known as the Front List in nearby McEwan Hall. The Edinburgh International Book Festival is returning to the Futures Institute for a second year. | contributed Venue T is the main venue within the Futures Institute building. There is also a Courtyard Theatre outside, as well as a Spiegeltent in the grounds and the Children's Tent.
The Herald Scotland
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Explainer: Why did the Edinburgh book festival move?
Nearly 700 events have just been announced for its 2025 programme, which will include award-winning stars of stage and screen, along with best-selling authors, broadcasters, politicians, sporting celebrities, stand-up comics and musicians. Read more: An overall audience of more than 100,000 is expected to events ranging in size from intimate gatherings for just a few dozen people around the historic NHS campus, which is now home to the Edinburgh Futures Institutes, to the 1000-capacity galas at the McEwan Hall. The Edinburgh International Book Festival was staged for three years at Edinburgh College of Art. (Image: EIBF) Other events will be staged at the nearby National Library of Scotland and Dynamic Earth, the science centre on the doorstep of the Scottish Parliament. The 2025 festival will be a far cry from its earliest incarnation, which was conceived as a one-off event when it was staged in 1983, when there were only two other literary festivals in the UK. The McEwan Hall hosts the biggest events in the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme. (Image: Mihaela Bodlovic) But that first edition was seen as a huge success thanks to appearances from the likes of Anthony Burgess, John Updike, PD James and Melvyn Bragg. Other authors invited to the city by founding director Jenny Brown included Doris Lessing, William McIlvanney, Liz Lochhead, Joan Lingard and Malcolm Bradbury. The Edinburgh International Book Festival is now mostly staged at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. (Image: Chris Scott) The festival would return every two years until 1997, when it became an annual fixture due to its growing popularity in Charlotte Square Garden. By the turn of the century, the book festival was playing host to 350 authors in Charlotte Square and the event played a huge part in Edinburgh being named the world's first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004. Growing visitor numbers and pressure to reduce the impact of the event on the privately-owned garden led to the event expanding onto George Street for the first time. Although the festival had resisted calls from heritage campaigners to consider relocating the event, they agreed to do exactly that in 2021, when the event returned following the lifting of Covid restrictions, with a small-scale festival staged at Edinburgh College of Art. The following year festival director Nick Barley sprung a surprise with an announcement that a long-term agreement had been reached with Edinburgh University to stage the event at the new Edinburgh Futures Institute in future. Another two editions of the festival were staged at the art school before the literary celebrated took over the former hospital site last August, weeks after the university's revamp was unveiled, under a new director, Jenny Niven. She announced a new partnership with long-time Fringe promoters and producers Underbelly to allow the biggest events with authors to go ahead at the McEwan Hall, where former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, stage and screen star Ruth Jones, Gavin & Stacey co-creator Ruth Jones and Scottish football favourite Ally McCoist.
Edinburgh Reporter
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
The Edinburgh International Book Festival – small changes this year
The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) 2025 will be held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute on Lauriston Place where the festival has now made its home. Jenny Niven Director and CEO said they are comfortable in the still relatively new space but are making a couple of changes to improve the event even more. The entrance will this year be placed on the corner of the site nearest to Middle Meadow Walk rather than opposite the back door. This will allow full use of the space at the back of the Institute where there will be tents and more catering outlets along with the Spiegeltent where all sorts of magical events take place. A new box office will be positioned outside the site on Middle Meadow Walk to open the festival up even more to everyone. The site is free to access but tickets will be needed for most events – with a range of offers including some £5 tickets. A great deal of the programme is as usual wide and varied and designed to stimulate conversation in the tents and the gardens. But there are a few new elements. There is a new strand for Young Adults (meaning 30 and under) with romantasy, sci-fi, horror, health, food and wellness all given room in the programme. There will be a new Kids Zone on Lauriston Place in a safe hub between two of the former hospital wards and there will be more than 100 events for children – with a retrospective featuring author Jacqueline Wilson who gave her name to the girls magazine Jackie all those years ago. Cressida Cowell of How to Train Your Dragon fame is sure to be a popular event. In the Spiegeltent there will be a wide variety of poetry, spoken word and music events all performed live. The popular Table Talk series which began last year will return with more chefs and food writers to the fore – but also events involving eating – a supper with Rosie Kellett, Have Lunch with Spaniard José Pizarro, Brazilian cuisine with Ixta Belfrage and Palestinian food writer Sami Tamimi. And if none of that grabs you, there will be a fermenting workshop… Paul French will be in Edinburgh to talk about his book on Wallis Simpson who had an 'amazingly riotous' couple of years in China in the 1920s. The programme will be online here for you to peruse before tickets go on sale- and copies will be available at many outlets in the city from 10 June. We will bring you more details when we get our hands on an actual copy rather than the pdf. © 2024 Martin McAdam Repair The theme this year is Repair with a list of international writers and performers that we have come to expect at the book festival with 700 events from 9 to 24 August. This idea will encourage audiences to explore the many things in the world which feel broken and how they might be fixed. There will be a wide range of active opportunities to rebalance and 'restore a sense of calm in the face of a world in chaos' through listening to talks and being encouraged to read the works of some of the many authors. Jenny Niven said: 'At a time when important conversations can feel impossible to have without igniting conflict and anger, we want the Edinburgh International Book Festival to provide a safe place for challenging but considered discussions. This year our programme features over 600 writers and artists from 35 countries who have a wide range of perspectives on topics of personal, social and global importance. We invite you to come and learn something new, feed your curiosity and to broaden your horizons.' She continued: 'We're hoping that we can present new writers and thinkers who are offering solutions and new ideas and great analysis that moves the conversation forward. And Repair is a very expansive idea. It's really fun when you talk to creative people about this idea, because everybody comes at it from all these different angles. So we're repairing in lots of ways. 'We're starting off with our Repair Gala, which is on Saturday the 10th, our opening day, and we've commissioned five different writers to think about the idea of Repair from whatever perspective they want. It's an amazing lineup, and as you can see, we're going for the really international sweep.' The organisers hope to provide a memorable and engaging experience for everyone and the focus will be on making the festival accessible, inclusive, and relevant to a diverse audience. The festival claims that literacy is decreasing in the UK and the Communities programme will stream more than 100 events to libraries in 12 Scottish local authority areas this year as one way of expanding the festival's reach. Big Names Irvine Welsh, Val McDermid, Nicola Sturgeon, Diane Abbott, Maggie O'Farrell, R F Kuang, Asako Yuzuki, Ash Sarkar, actor Brian Cox, Ruth Jones, Adam Buxton, Viggo Mortensen and Vanessa Redgrave are all in the programme. Joe Boyd credited with producing Dylan and who 'electrified' him at the Newport Folk Festival will tell some tales of the people he has worked with. Local names Music from Edinburgh's own Hamish Hawk will reinterpret the work of Ivor Cutler. Devi Sridhar from the University of Edinburgh who became such a well-known voice during the pandemic will talk about Health for All and explain the key to a longer, healthier life based on her book How Not To Die (Too Soon). Rock the Boat is the monthly stand up night from Push the Boat Out Festival and Loud Poets, the nationwide programme bringing together younger poets competing in poetry slams are also listed. Credit Thomas Heatherwick The Front List and tickets The Festival Front List has been on sale for some time with all events taking place at the nearby McEwan Hall in a collaboration with Underbelly. Tickets for those events have sold well and now the main events will go on sale to members of the public on 21 June. If you become a Friend of the Festival then there are advance booking privileges and a Festival coffee gathering as well as a Christmas event. Details here. There are specially priced tickets for the Under 30s and other events priced at £5 for those on low-income benefits. FUNDING The question of funding the book festival still looms large even a year after the EIBF ended their 20 year partnership with Bailie Gifford which funded much of the programme and particularly the schools events. In 2024 Ms Niven said that the goal of the board and management was to deliver an event which was safe and successful for audiences, authors and staff. Some authors had threatened to withdraw if the relationship with the Edinburgh based investment fund did not end. Despite the fact that Bailie Gifford explained their investment in large companies such as Amazon, NVIDIA and Meta, fossil fuels or The Occupied Palestinian Territories had been misrepresented. Nick Thomas, partner, Baillie Gifford, said in May 2024: 'Our collaboration with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, spanning decades, was rooted in our shared interest in making Edinburgh a thriving and culturally vibrant place to live and work. In recent years we have been proud to support the Schools' and Children's programmes, providing free books and creating opportunities for young readers to meet authors. 'The activists' anonymous campaign of coercion and misinformation has put intolerable pressure on authors and the festival community. We step back with the hope that the festival will thrive this year and into the future. We hold the activists squarely responsible for the inhibiting effect their action will have on funding for the arts in this country. This year the festival is dependent on many different sources including the sponsorship from the People's Postcode Lottery which has an HQ in Charlotte Square. Tickets go on sale to the general public on 21 June. © 2024 Martin McAdam Like this: Like Related
Scotsman
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
10 highlights from this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival as full programme revealed
Scottish authors Irvine Welsh and Maggie O'Farrell are to join Heartstopper writer Alice Oseman, as well as former first minister Nicola Sturgeon at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. The festival today unveiled its full programme, which is based around the theme of Repair, seeking to explore things which feel broken and looking at how they could be fixed – from the physical to the political, the emotional to the environmental, and beyond. Director Jenny Niven said: 'For me, these events should feel like a statement of resilience and hope and optimism. Speaking to writers and thinkers and philosophers and activists about how we might move forward and repair some of the things that are broken is a really wonderful thing. 'I'm hoping that people, when they come to the festival, they'll have that experience, and they'll learn something, and they'll go away and think about what that means in their own life, or their own approach to politics, or their own approach to mental health and well being, or whatever aspect speaks to them.' The festival has launched a new kids' zone for 2025, as well as a separate Young Adult programme, which will feature Ms Oseman, author of hit graphic novel Heartstopper, as well as US writer R F Kuang. The festival is also set to increase its outdoor bar area and expand the entrance onto Middle Meadow Walk, in its second year at in its new home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Meanwhile, book groups will be able to reserve a specially reserved area to discuss their thoughts on events. The book festival is to livestream more than 100 events to libraries across 12 Scottish local authorities this August, as part of its communities programme. 1 . Alice Oseman Heartstopper author Alice Oseman is going to appear in the new Young Adults programme, with events tailored to audiences aged 30 and under. The graphic novel has become a major Netflix hit. Ms Oseman will appear on Sunday, August 18, at Venue T, at 1.30pm. | Getty Images Photo Sales 2 . Maggie O'Farrell Author Maggie O'Farrell will celebrate 25 years of publishing in an event at the festival. Friday, 15 August: McEwan Hall, 7.30pm | Getty Images Photo Sales 3 . Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson and friends will be returning to the Edinburgh International Book Festival for an event of songs, stories and poems. She will also premier her new picture book, Paper Chase. Saturday, 23 August: Venue T, 10am. Photo: Submitted Photo Sales 4 . Amitav Ghosh Acclaimed Indian writer Amitav Ghosh will discuss Wild Fictions, a collection of his writings from the past 25 years. Monday, 11 August: Venue T 8.30pm. | ANP/AFP via Getty Images Photo Sales
