FOR years the Burgh of Leith had been over shadowed by the city of Edinburgh, and known more for its historic port and Shore, its setting for Trainspotting and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Now Leith has become one of the thriving cultural areas in Scotland, boasting venues, its own festivals such as Hidden Door, a vibrant population boasting artists, students and writers, and lauded restaurants and bars.

Leith could also now become a key part of the Edinburgh International Festival in the future, after the box office success of this year's coming concerts at the once shuttered, but now revived, Leith Theatre.

Fergus Linehan, the artistic director of the EIF, which begins on Friday, revealed several concerts at the historic 1932 venue are sold out, with several others close to that stage in its Light on the Shore programme.

Mr Linehan said that Leith Theatre could, if the Leith Theatre Trust completes its renovations, become the third main musical stage for the EIF, along with the Queen's Hall, used for chamber music, and the Usher Hall, the historic stage for orchestras and staged operas.

He has been impressed by the public's response to the concerts, featuring artists such as Mogwai, Lau, Anna Meredith, Django Django and Karine Polwart, among others.

King Creosote, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai on the 23 August and club night with the actor Alan Cumming have sold out.

However, the venue, out of use from 1988 to 2004, still needs a complete renovation to become a full-time venue.

The venue received £1m from the City of Edinburgh Council earlier this year towards the on-going project, which could cost £7m in total.

Mr Linehan said: "Leith is going really, really well.

"The thing with Leith Theatre is that it's an expensive building to be in [at the moment], because there are no toilets or power.

"But it looks great - in a beautiful world, you talk about Queen's Hall and the Usher Hall, Leith could be the third venue for us.

"For everything from Bang on a Can and the Kronos Quartet, through to electronic and folk and everything, it really could be that space."

He added: "We'd love to say we have 19 Queen's Hall Concerts, we've got 22 Usher Hall concerts, we'd love to have 19 concerts there as well.

"It would make an awful lot of sense, it would give shape and boundary and identity to that kind of programming.

"It would be gorgeous...but it needs the boring work done to become a plug-and-play venue."

Mr Linehan added: "It may be that we are in this year, maybe the work gets done next year and we are in the following year.

"It will also be the question of when we get up and running, whether it creates its own frisson, and people say 'I love this place', and people feel they have to go there."

Jack Hunter, chair of the Leith Theatre Trust, said: "Our design team, led by Collective Architecture is due to conclude its feasibility and costing study in the autumn of this year which will give us a framework for bringing the main auditorium back into regular use for live music, performance and events in the short term, and the longer term development of the whole complex as a multi-space arts and community venue in line with the Trust’s vision.

"We look forward to sharing more information on this later this year.

"Meanwhile we continue to build up our profile and engagement with Leith and Edinburgh’s wider cultural community."

Mr Linehan said he was concerned about the effects of Brexit on the EIF, especially a 'Hard' Brexit where the Home Office clamps down on visa applications.

He said: "A backlog at the Home Office would be the nightmare scenario for all of us, because if you bring in 200 people in an opera company, for example, quite often there is some queries, if that slows down, we are all in big, big trouble."

"We'd all assumed that we were all going to be adult about this and we'd keep going after March and we'd be dealing with this in 2021.

"But if we're plunged into chaos after March, again the issue is going to be, if government services are going to overwhelmed, how are we going to go through the administration of that?

"I can see how it will be a real problem for us."

Mr Linehan added: "If people give us a steer, not just in August, but the UK generally, you are getting into consequences that we never envisaged, even for people who voted Leave.

"To be honest, the problems we would hit would be terrible....a bumpy road and tough, but not compared to other parts of society, they are nothing next to the guys at a car assembly plant in Sunderland.

"Even in the arts, the main concern for the art has to be for the wider consequences.

"Problems getting visas are nothing compared to, say, a whole generation of unemployment."