The Edinburgh International Festival has today announced its 2021 programme as it looks forward to the return of live performance.

Taking place August 7–29, the Festival will feature more than 170 classical and contemporary music, theatre, opera, dance and spoken word performances, including 15 new commissions and premieres. As part of the Festival, Scottish Opera will present a new production of Verdi’s Falstaff directed by Sir David McVicar.

Other standout events include a new concert staging of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Dorothea Röschmann in the title-role, and a work by the composer Errollyn Wallen, Dido’s Ghost, continuing the story of Dido and Aeneas, interweaving the music of Purcell’s original with her music, and starring South African soprano Golda Schultz.

The violinist Nicola Benedetti will have a two-week residency, including a performance of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale. And as previously announced, a number of concerts will take place in bespoke outdoor pavilions in locations including the University of Edinburgh’s Old College Quad, while the Festival will hold events in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh including a free large-scale fire night-walk, created by the French artist collective Compagnie Carabosse, combining fire sculptures and live traditional Scottish music.

For more details, visit Edinburgh Festival's website