One week into the International Festival, we are prompted to reflect on our origins and how far we have come to get here. Not just the last twelve months of planning, but the very purpose of the annual gathering that is the world’s leading festival of the arts.

This year we are responding to an overwhelming desire for togetherness that became clear when we asked ourselves, our artists and our visitors ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ in 2023. This year’s theme, Rituals That Unite Us, celebrates the collective experiences that bind us closer together with a life-affirming programme of performing arts and ideas.

Against a global backdrop of war, displacement and civil unrest, it has never been more important to unite with our colleagues from around the world and take the time to understand their situations.

The joyous spirit of internationalism and excitement that transforms our Festival City reminds me of the anticipation that builds in and infuses every Olympic host city. And as the world enjoys the marvel that is the Paris Games, the parallels between the traditions and values of sports and culture come to the fore.

In the lead up to the 2012 Games, when I worked for the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the promise of a once in a generation celebration of excellence and internationalism and the chance to meet people from all around the world in a summer of sport was intoxicating.

Now, more than a decade later, I recognise that the Olympics and the International Festival are not just a showcase of physical or artistic excellence; both represent a beacon for shared humanity and the pursuit of peace among nations. And how lucky we are that, unlike London, Edinburgh has the chance to host the biggest creative event in the world every year.

PARADISUM, an immersive circus performance in Edinburgh, ahead of their appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe. (Image: Andrew Milligan)

The International Festival and the Olympic and Paralympic Games both offer a window to the world, an opportunity to bring nations and people of different cultures and viewpoints together through the shared pursuit of human achievement, striving for a higher purpose of unity, and harmony across nations.

Our first Opening Concert, La Pasión según San Marcos, embodied this essence of the International Festival. Composed by Osvaldo Golijov, a native of Argentina, this Scottish premiere was led by the Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro and the Caracas-based choir, Schola Cantorum of Venezuela.

The next generation of Scottish artists – in this case the National Youth Choir of Scotland – performed with them on stage, connecting them to a lifetime’s worth of friendships on a global scale.

The founding principles of the modern Olympic movement, to educate through the spirit of peace and goodwill and to create a better, more peaceful world, align closely with what we aim to achieve here at the International Festival.

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Our first group of civic and artistic leaders. The speed at which the International Festival was established speaks to the urgency of the desire to reunite and overcome political boundaries. In the words of Artur Schnabel, a classical pianist who performed here in 1947, it was ‘astonishing what could be achieved so soon after years of such inhuman ferocity’. That need to find unity between nations, and indeed between communities here in the United Kingdon remains all too necessary.

Our Festival is at its strongest when we host a diversity of views and traditions that inspire us to question and challenge our own perspectives. This year, over 2000 artists from 42 countries – from Brazil to Kyrgyzstan – offer that multiplicity of interpretations and stories told through our hand-picked programme of opera, theatre, music and dance.

With over 1000 Scottish artists performing and all five national performing companies featured in our programme, our homegrown talent continues to be the lynchpin of the global stage we occupy during August.

There is no better way to nurture this than through time spent in the communion that festivals offer. Through our shared rituals and collective experiences, we can, and must, work together towards a more empathetic world.

Francesca Hegyi is the Chief Executive, Edinburgh International Festival