THE Edinburgh International Book Festival has announced the venues for its upcoming events.
The festival will be held at the Edinburgh College of Art, before moving to a brand new city centre and University of Edinburgh site in 2024.
Building on the success of last year’s hybrid programme, this year will see the current site expand, with both increased capacity and number of venues. Last year was the first year the Book Festival had moved site since it was formed in 1983, beginning its long-term partnership with Edinburgh University.
As part of this partnership, the event will move to the Edinburgh Futures Institute in 2024, a landmark development based on the site of the old Royal Infirmary on Lauriston Place.
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Edinburgh University say they are transforming the building into a space for multi-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships.
The organisers say the institute will give the Book Festival a variety of accessible indoor venues and outdoor areas along with the facilities to stage a hybrid programme of livestreamed and in-person events. They say the venue offers ample space to create the atmospheric literary gathering place that audiences and authors have long valued for socialising, making connections, and sparking ideas.
Festival director, Nick Barley said: “We are hugely excited to be returning to the Edinburgh College of Art in August where we can bring back the buzz of Edinburgh’s best festival years. We’ll build on what we offered last year and look forward to sharing how this lovely, welcoming site can offer unforgettable experiences for audiences and authors.
“We have been working closely with the University of Edinburgh over the past two years and are thrilled that our new permanent home will be the Edinburgh Futures Institute from 2024, a historic building with an all-important ‘village green’ outdoor area which is being developed for everyone to enjoy, and of which our Festival city can be proud.”
He went on: “It throws up extraordinary, game-changing opportunities for the book festival, but importantly – for the first time in our festival’s history – it helps us plan a number of years ahead.
“The new site will allow us to continue building back our world-renowned programme, while putting accessibility, sustainability and innovation at the core of what we do with an all-important ‘village green’ outdoor area.”
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Principal and vice-chancellor of Edinburgh University, Professor Peter Mathieson, said: “I am delighted that The University of Edinburgh is deepening our partnership with The Edinburgh International Book Festival.
“We will provide world-class venues, and our students and staff will be an intrinsic part of the festival’s programme, sharing and discussing ideas with audiences from Edinburgh and all over the world. We look forward to welcoming book festival-goers to Edinburgh College of Art for the next two years.
“When the festival then takes residence in the Edinburgh Futures Institute from 2024, it will help realise the inscription etched onto its wall: ‘Patet Omnibus’, which means ‘Open to All’.”
This year’s hybrid festival will take place August 13-29.
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