LONDON: The Edinburgh Festival, the biggest arts festival of its kind in the world, got under way in the Scotland capital on Sunday with a concert that included Hector Berlionz'sTo Deum, under the direction of Christoph von Dohnanyi. The festival, which runs until August 31 this year, includes as its high points Peter Stein's staging of Wagner'sParsifal, with Claudio Abbado directing the Gustav Mahler youth orchestra. The concert programme includes American pianist Richard Goode, bass baritone Thomas Quasthoff and violinist Christian Tetzlaff. New to the programmes this year will be 25 late evening classical music concerts. Earlier this month, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the largest show-case in the world for performance art, officially got under way with theatre, dance, poetry and music presentations. Many of the fringe artists, who can enter the fringe festival upon payment of a small fee, were inspired this year by the event of September 11. Thousands of people flock to Edinburgh from around the world during the festival, which is over 50 years old. It aims to promote and encourage arts and to reflect international culture. It consists of various dance, music, opera, and theatre presentation taking place across the city during the three-week run. When did the Edinburgh Festival begin?
August 10. August 15. August 31. September 11.