
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


The Edinburgh Festival was founded 70 years ago in the aftermath of World War Two. 1947 was a year of shortages and rationing, and the idea of starting an arts festival in Scotland's capital city must have seemed highly ambitious. Yet with the support of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Rudolf Bing, the general manager of Glydenbourne Festival Opera, undertook the challenge. It was to prove an international success that has lasted 70 years. With contributions from those who attended the first festivals in the 1940s and music from early performances, Jim Naughtie reflects on the origins of what has become the world's greatest arts festival. Producer Mark Rickards.
By BBC Radio 34.4
5151 ratings
The Edinburgh Festival was founded 70 years ago in the aftermath of World War Two. 1947 was a year of shortages and rationing, and the idea of starting an arts festival in Scotland's capital city must have seemed highly ambitious. Yet with the support of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Rudolf Bing, the general manager of Glydenbourne Festival Opera, undertook the challenge. It was to prove an international success that has lasted 70 years. With contributions from those who attended the first festivals in the 1940s and music from early performances, Jim Naughtie reflects on the origins of what has become the world's greatest arts festival. Producer Mark Rickards.

7,601 Listeners

298 Listeners

1,052 Listeners

5,477 Listeners

1,801 Listeners

614 Listeners

302 Listeners

1,751 Listeners

1,040 Listeners

2,093 Listeners

482 Listeners

267 Listeners

578 Listeners

297 Listeners

826 Listeners

135 Listeners

159 Listeners

240 Listeners

46 Listeners

184 Listeners

3,175 Listeners

723 Listeners

81 Listeners

338 Listeners