Edinburgh also has a festival – you might have heard of it! It also has a fringe, though the Edinburgh Fringe was started off by a group of theatre companies that just turned up uninvited and put on shows. Over the years the Edinburgh Fringe has grown much larger that the International Festival. Edinburgh also has a Book Festival, a Film Festival and a Television Festival, all taking place around the same time, in August. Last year it also had an Art Festival.
Edinburgh's art world hit back at what it saw as the 'patently absurd' exclusion of the visual arts from the Edinburgh International Festival. Richard Demarco, a key figure in the city's arts scene, challenged the organisers of the main festival: 'You are morally responsible for including visual art – or you mustn't call it the greatest festival in the world'. Ring any bells? Brighton Festival persists in describing itself as England's biggest festival, even though the number of 'official' events – without counting the Open Houses – wouldn't impress anyone.

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