The Edinburgh International Festival will begin tonight with its organisers celebrating record-breaking figures at the box office.
The Edinburgh International Festival will begin tonight with its organisers celebrating record-breaking figures at the box office.
The opening concert, Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, will take place as the EIF defies the credit crunch and the building site around its main venue, the Usher Hall, to welcome 13,000 concert-goers to its first weekend.
One show, Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray, has sold 8000 tickets and will be the most heavily attended dance show in the festival's history if it keeps selling at the current rate, as it is on course to be seen by 10,000 people.
Bookings made online have also seen a boom this year - they are 17% up on last year, with over half of all ticket sales taken via the web this week.
In total, the EIF has sold more than £2m in tickets and it is hoped that further sales could help ease the festival's deficit, which currently stands at around £190,000.
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is a comic satire, and its cast includes Susan Bickley, Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts, Giselle Allan and Hannah Gordon as its narrator.
HK Gruber will be conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the voices of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, led by Christopher Bell.
Although tickets for most shows at the EIF are still available, some events have already sold out.
They include the opening concert, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Israel in Egypt, Alfred Brendel, Roby Lakatos and Gabriela Montero.
Jonathan Mills, the artistic director of the festival, said: "This is the most exciting moment of the year. After months of planning and work artists are about to unleash their creative energy and ideas on thousands of people across the city's venues.
"I'm delighted to welcome everybody to the Festival and particularly to the Usher Hall, where there is a fantastic line- up of concerts.
"There is an incredibly exciting diversity and inten-sity of performances to see. To borrow another's phrase, you can sleep in September'."
The festival is to decorate the site around the Usher Hall with a series of "dressings" based on the design of its programme brochure.
Temporary wooden stairs have been built into the hall and there is still wheelchair access at ground level.
Temporary toilets are being placed outside the hall, which is the venue for 23 concerts in the Festival, but will be covered by a marquee.
The City of Edinburgh Council has spent an extra £860,000 to get the Usher Hall in a fit state so that it can be used for this year's festival.
Tomorrow also sees the opening of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, staged in its traditional home in Charlotte Square Gardens. This year's event will include an appearance by Sir Sean Connery, who will be talking about his new book, which is entitled Being a Scot.
Writers attending the festival include Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Louis de Bernieres, Julian Barnes, Ian Rankin and Iain Banks.
Its opening event tomorrow morning features a "mystery guest" from the world of politics, who will be chatting with Rankin in what is billed as an "illuminating conversation".
