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Old Images of the Edinburgh Festival

 Glimpse the past through these old images of the Edinburgh Festival.

Edinburgh Scenes 1950

In this silent black and white footage from 1950, we see some of the well known views of the great Scottish capital.

But there are also more intimate moments. A close up of the ticket collector at work at Waverley Station. Does anyone know who he is?

We also see lots of people on screen busy with their lives, at Waverley Station and Princes Street. Plus, the Scottish troops scene has a few clear faces shown, despite the night time setting.

And the travelling steam train is just a lovely shot.



Views Of Scotland (1950) - British Pathé (YouTube)


Edinburgh Festival 1950

Silent film footage which includes views of the buildings and streets of the City of Edinburgh.



Edinburgh Festival (1950) - British Pathé on YouTube

Newsreel 1951

In 1951, besides films there were four drama companies and three choirs.

This newsreel includes

  • Sir Adrian Boult
  • Dame Myra Hess
  • Leon Goossens
  • Ida Hendel
  • Mildred Miller
  • Owen Brannigan
  • Glasgow Orpheous Girls Choir


Edinburgh Festival (1951) - British Pathé on YouTube

13th Ediburgh Festival 1959

Also Highland Games as Murrayfield.



Edinburgh Festival - Special (1959) - British Pathé on YouTube

Edinburgh Festival 1960

Along with an actor getting accidentally hit on the head by a plank manhandled by an angry stage hand, this newsreel includes

  • Lord Provost & other dignitaries
  • Gina Scala
  • Don Barnet
  • Curt Jurgens
  • Adrian Brine, theatre director and producer
  • Callum Mill, theatre director
  • Svetlana Beriosova
  • Donald Macleary


Edinburgh Festival (1960) - British Pathé on YouTube

Edinburgh Festival 1962

Huge crowds wait to buy tickets at the Festival Office.

The Earl of Harwood, Artistic Director of the Festival, and the Russian composer Shostokovitch sit talking while they smoke, the piano beside them making a handy ashtray holder!

Other famous musicians include Soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, her husband the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, pianist Yvonne Lefebure, and tenor Peter Pears.

Dylan Thomas's play 'The Doctor and The Devils' played at the Assembly Hall is in the thumbail below.

Then we see the two MacEwan Brothers praticising their folk music on Carlton Hill.

Film star ice skater Sonja Henie and her husbad Niels Onstad is filmed inside the Royal Scottish Academy, which is displaying their very 60s modern art collection.



Edinburgh Festival (1962) - British Pathé (YouTube)


Benjamin Britten 1963

Among the scenes of tourists and performers, the individuals appearing in this 1963 newreel include:

  • Lord Harewood, Festival's Artistic Director
  • Benjamin Britten, world famous composer
  • Mr Duncan Weatherstone, Lord Provost of Edinburgh
  • Mr Philip Rawson
  • Dr Menon
  • George Malcolm
  • Balasaraswati, famous Indian dancer
  • Larry Adler
  • John Ogden, pianist
  • Jehudi Menuhin, world famous violinist
  • Hephzibah Menuhin, Jehudin's sister and pianist


Edinburgh Festival - Technicolor (1963) - British Pathé on YouTube


Edinburgh Festival 1965

The tourists are back for the summer of 1965.



Selected Originals - Edinburgh Festival (1965) - British Pathé (YouTube)

American Tourists 1965

Even in 1965, the Edinburgh Festival was attracting many American visitors.

This newsreel includes

  • Mr and Mrs Hummel from Washington D.C.
  • Mrs Mary Sowell from Arkansas
  • Bob Buchanan


Edinburgh Festival (1965) - British Pathé on YouTube

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Location: Edinburgh, UK

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