And that’s a wrap!
And just like that, another brilliant Festival cycle comes to an end. The tents are down, the benches tucked into storage, the Royal Mile extreme jugglers are away home, and the quiet of normal life returns to Edinburgh right as the trees start to turn yellow at the tips.
(And, as is the way of cycles, we’ve already started planning for summer 2026! More on that soon.)
Here’s what you’ll find in this month’s e-news:
- The dates for next year’s Book Festival
- A look back at August 2025
- The chance to win £200 in book vouchers by sharing feedback
- A creative writing opportunity for young people
- And a reading list to see you into autumn
Let’s go!
Mark your diaries!
Because we can now officially announce that the next Edinburgh International Book Festival will take place from Sat 15 – Sun 30 August 2026!
We’ll be back at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, and will once again bring you a line up of the best and brightest authors, thinkers, artists, and movers and shakers around. You’ll hear about programme announcements and on sale dates here first, so keep an eye on future emails.
Looking back at the 2025 Book Festival
The 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival was a vibrant 16 days of conversation, performance, draw-alongs, poetry slams, cookery demonstrations, unicorn sightings, mind expanding discussions, near constant blue skies, prize announcements, moments of connection, solidarity, music, laughter, tears, ice cream, and of course, lots and lots of books.
With more than 160,000 visits to our site at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, this was a landmark year for the Festival. Here are pictures from just five small stand out moments among many:
Seeing the Festival theme come to life 🔨
This year’s theme of Repair was woven throughout the programme, becoming fully interactive via a new installation for the Festival: the Repair Sheds. Humble in look, but mighty in ambition, the Sheds saw a free programme of creative experiences and hands-on activities including poetry prescription consultations with Deborah Alma, Japanese textile repair with the Remakery, and ‘Welcome to Scotland’ letter writing sessions with Refuweegee.
Inspiring the next generation of readers 📚
Whether they were high-fiving the Gruffalo, drawing bears with Ross Collins, writing wishes to Princess the unicorn (pictured), sitting cross-legged in the bookshop reading stories, sticking their hands up from the stalls to ask important questions, or scouring the courtyard in pursuit of clues for the Mr Men & Little Miss trail – seeing the excitement of our youngest readers around the site reminded us all what the Book Festival is all about.
Hamish Hawk mesmerising audiences 🎤
There were so many incredible events this Book Festival. One which was particularly special was local indie songwriter Hamish Hawk enchanting audiences in the Spiegeltent with his electric, absurd, and specially commissioned performance of ‘Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol.0’ – a lyrical homage to Scotland’s pre-eminent poet-eccentric, Ivor Cutler, and his childhood home.
Out in the Community ✨
Away from the main site, our Communities team were busy all August bringing a little bit of the Book Festival to people who couldn’t attend in person. We brought authors including Denise Mina (pictured, at Streetreads), Michael Mullen, Najwan Darwish, Heather Parry, and Melissa Lucashenko into hospitals, libraries, schools, and prisons, both in and beyond Edinburgh. This work is something that continues all year round, so look out for updates in future emails.
The People Speak ✊
Inspired by the work of people’s historian Howard Zinn, on the final Sunday of the Festival, an acclaimed cast – including actors Viggo Mortensen and Stephen Rea, authors Ahmed Masoud, Ekow Eshun, and Irenosen Okojie, singer-songwriter Miwa Nagato-Apthorp, and producer-editor Anthony Arnove – performed speeches, stories, and songs of rebellion from across history, in a powerful affirmation of the fundamental human right to protest.