Edinburgh Festival fireworks to end after 40 years

The annual fireworks display which traditionally signals the end of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) is set to end after 40 years.

The 45-minute show from Edinburgh Castle, which began in 1982, usually attracts more than 250,000 spectators.

Organisers said the world famous event would not run this summer as it had no sponsor.

And an EIF spokeswoman said they were looking into staging a large-scale event to replace future displays.

The fireworks did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to Covid restrictions.

Organisers said the pandemic had also led to the cancellation of the display last year, which was the 75th anniversary of the festival.

An EIF spokeswoman said: "The International Festival won't be staging the fireworks this year.

"The fireworks have always been dependent on a major sponsor, and we do not have one to support the event this year.

"We will be speaking with the other August festivals and the City of Edinburgh Council to see what form a large-scale closing event might take in the future, that would replace the fireworks."

People buy tickets to watch the event from Princes Street Gardens, which sits under Edinburgh Castle.

Huge crowds also watch from Princes Street, which is not ticketed, and other vantage points across the city.

The fireworks usually accompany a live performance from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, which is aired on radio.

There are usually about 400,000 fireworks in the display, using four tonnes of explosives synchronised to music from the orchestra.