LONDON – Every August, the Scottish capital of Edinburgh plays host to some of the funniest and most talented — not to forget strangest — performers from the U.K.
and the wider world. Not this year. Organizers canceled the city's collection of late summer festivals Wednesday as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision marks the first cancellation since the Edinburgh International Festival launched in 1947 in the aftermath of World War II as an attempt to reconcile people and nations through the performing arts.
Now numbering five, including the wildly popular Fringe lineup of both obscure and mainstream acts, Edinburgh's annual August festivals draw 4.4 million people to over 5,000 events involving over 25,000 artists, writers