2011 sees twelve major diverse events, many of world-class quality, helping to make Edinburgh the heartbeat of Britain’s cultural body. The UK, particularly in the summer months, has wall-to-wall festivals, from parish churches to major open-air marathons. Most cities and many stately homes host festival crowds enjoying music, theatre, film, flowers, aircraft and politics of every conceivable kind, which pull in money and heighten publicity. Edinburgh 2011’s offerings run from Science (31st March-13 April); Imaginate Children’s (7-14 May); Film (15-26 June); Jazz and Blues (22-31 July); Art (4 August-4 September); Military Tattoo (5-27 August); Fringe (5-29 August); International (12 August-4 September); Books (13-29 August); Mela (2-4 September); Storytelling (21-30 September) and Hogmanay (30 December-2 January). It’s the ‘International’ that most people think of as the ‘Edinburgh Festival’, but in fact events … Read entire article »