Edinburgh’s festivals and the Church

Edinburgh’s festivals were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic but return in full this August. Thomas Baldwin reports on the part the city’s churches play.

THE Edinburgh Festivals return this August for their first full, in-person events since 2019.

Among them is the Just Festival (formerly the Festival of Spirituality and Peace), based at St John’s Church on Princes Street, which for over 20 years has provided a programme of performances and discussions engaging with local, national and international questions of social justice, equality and identity.

It is supported by Edinburgh City Centre Churches Together, which brings together the Episcopal St John’s with the two city centre Church of Scotland congregations, St Cuthbert’s and St Andrew’s and St George’s West.

This year’s festival, under new manager Miranda Heggie, focuses on themes of reparation and regeneration, both in the context of Covid-19 and the pandemic’s impact on the arts, and against the background of the conflict in Ukraine.

Miranda, who took over as Festival Manager in April, says: “I feel that Just is a necessary voice in the canon of Edinburgh’s August festivals, providing a platform and a space for audiences and artists to engage with the social challenges and key questions facing today’s world. Since the beginnings of human history, every society and civilisation has engaged in some form of art. I believe that this innate and eternal human need for artistic expression is part of what gives it its power to heal and enhance social empathy and understanding, and I am both excited and humbled to deliver a festival which celebrates this, and developing it over the coming years.”

The programme she has assembled for her first festival includes the first live performance of Lochan Sketches, a series of 10 short pieces for solo instrumentalists, written for the Nevis Ensemble for Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters in 2020/21. The pieces were first broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s Classics Unwrapped programme, and are available on the Nevis Ensemble’s website; but this will be the first time they have been performed live in their entirety.

There will also be a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, written in 1940 after the composer and pianist found himself in a prisoner of war camp with a clarinettist, a cellist and a violinist. That performance will be preceded by a talk about the arts’ role in reconciliation and peacekeeping.

There will be a series of free lunchtime concerts, in collaboration with the Live Music Now organisation, founded by legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin to help musicians at the start of their careers and to reach audiences who cannot normally access live performance. As well as performing, the musicians will speak to the audience about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, what lockdown meant for them for their creative practice and the practical impacts of not being able to perform, especially for younger musicians who are just starting out and trying to establish themselves.

Alongside that, there is also an exhibition planned for St John’s featuring artistic work created during lockdown, with accompanying words from the artists about how lockdown affected them and their practice, and how the work they were producing changed during the pandemic.

There will also be a conversation series, a mixture of in-person and online events.

“Obviously doing it online gives us a much greater geographical reach,” says Miranda.

“We’ve approached a few international speakers for online conversations, although we will also have some that are totally in-person.”

While Miranda has put together this programme while still living in Birmingham, her previous job was with the Edinburgh International Festival and she was heavily involved with (and remains a member of) St Giles’ Cathedral. She says her aim, once her first Just Festival is out of the way, is to establish it as a more year-round operation and build on the connections with local churches: “I’m really familiar with all the Edinburgh festivals, including the Just Festival, and as well as being very aware of Edinburgh’s cultural scene I’m also very aware of the work of the Church in Edinburgh. I want to really establish Just Festival as something for people that live in Edinburgh, and I’d like to do certain things throughout the year with churches and other faith groups.”

Edinburgh’s churches have been involved with the Festival Fringe since the earliest days, when they offered their halls as venues for the ‘unofficial’ performances taking place alongside the Festival. This year is no exception, with most of the city centre churches and many further out hosting everything from music to theatre to children’s shows.

At the heart of the Royal Mile, St Giles’

Cathedral has a series of organ recitals and visiting choirs, as well as a free cello recital from renowned South African musician William Jack.

St Cuthbert’s Church has a range of music performances, taking in classical, choral, folk and world music, and a performance of Mozart’s The Magic of Figaro by Opera Bohemia.

Across in the New Town, St Andrew’s and St George’s West has possibly the most extensive programme of any of the Church of Scotland venues. Musical performances range from classical, big band and contemporary to songs from musical theatre and movies; along with flamenco dance and a physical theatre piece: Marrano, a Tale from the Inquisition.

Palmerston Place Church offers two faith-based theatrical productions. The Liberator, presented by Saltmine Theatre Company, is a contemporary retelling of Jesus’ life; while Return to the Hiding Place from Searchlight Theatre Company is a new reimagining of Corrie Ten Boom’s biographical tale of forgiveness and reconciliation during World War Two.

Slightly further out from the city centre, Stockbridge Parish Church has music from Classic Brit Award Nominee Thomas Cameron and the opera Maria Stuarda, as well as two children’s shows from Recitals for Wrigglers.

Marchmont St Giles’s Parish Church has a series of free afternoon concerts under the banner Marchmont Music.

Mayfield Salisbury Parish is hosting Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s production The Deil’s Awa!, while Leitheatre are at Inverleith St Serf’s Church Centre with comedy-drama Ladies Day.

Whilst this is not an exhaustive list, further details are available by visiting www.edfringe.com. For the Just Festival, visit www.just-festival.org