63rd Edinburgh International Festival provides exceptional summer break for Gulf-based holidaymakers to Britain

The 2009 programme is inspired by The Enlightenment, an unprecedented era of cultural advancement in the 18th century which witnessed an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments.

Gulf-based holidaymakers are expected to visit this unique festival in great numbers this summer, their traditional time for travelling to the United Kingdom.

"Gulf-based expats and Arabs alike feel a strong connection to Scotland, its people, and its culture. Thus, the annual Edinburgh Festival welcomes them home in style and entertains them richly for days. It has become, for many, the ultimate alternative UK holiday,"

says Carol Maddison, VisitBritain Marketing Manager, UAE.

The Edinburgh International Festival is regarded as the premier festival destination in the world. The rich variety of the Edinburgh International Festival programme encompasses the vibrancy of Edinburgh's festivals which place Scotland at the forefront of cultural creativity and innovation.

This international festival has something to please everyone, from artists to philosophers, scientists and academics.

Some of the highlights of the 63rd Edinburgh International Festival are listed below:

- The Enlightenment, A Festival of ideas. A series of talks and discussions with artist, philosophers, academics in partnership with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Nature - the international weekly journal of science and the Wellcome Trust.
- The biennial visual arts programme under curator Juliana Engberg sees nine international artists respond to ideas behind the Festival programme in The Enlightenments, including seven new commissions.
- The British Council's biennial Edinburgh Showcase with more than 30 productions ranging from young unknowns to established artists from the UK, and encompassing new writing, physical and visual theatre, live art and mixed-media installations.
- World premiere of Scottish playwright Rona Munro's The Last Witch, a Festival Commission co-produced with Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre and directed by Dominic Hill.
- World premiere of Italian composer Giorgio Battistelli's Fair is foul, foul is fair, commissioned by the Festival for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and made possible by Donald and Louise McDonald.

"The Edinburgh International Festival is indeed ideal for Cultural Exchange. For 12 years on from its inception, the British Council's biennial Edinburgh Showcase has also been a great venue for intercultural dialogue. This year, the Showcase will stage more than 30 productions, and up to 250 international programmers, venue and festival directors from more than 50 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, will attend the Showcase in the middle of the world's biggest Festival of performing arts," commented Michel Bechara, Director of Projects, British Council, UAE.

"The Festival and the Showcase provide the best opportunity for Gulf-based Theatre and Culture promoters as well as for all travellers, to explore the rich diversity of the Scottish culture and heritage," added Bechara.

Visitors can also make the most of all the cultural events taking place this year in Scotland. In celebration of Homecoming Scotland 2009, the country will thrive with cultural celebrations that focus on the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet and an international cultural icon.

The closing celebrations will take place over St Andrew's Day weekend in November and promise to be every bit as special as the launch.