1892 as North Morningside Free Church and bought by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1960. The Edinburgh Playhouse (3,059), opened in 1929, Britain's largest theatre, formerly a cinema. Freemasons' Hall (approximately 500), opened in 1912, used by the festival from 1947 for recitals and chamber concerts. Gateway Theatre, built in 1882 as a veterinary college, used for drama performances during the festival, but eventually converted to student housing. General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, used for drama performances from 1949 Leith Theatre (also known as Leith Town Hall and, briefly, Citadel Theatre), used as a medium-sized concert and recital hall by the festival from 1961 to the end of the 1970s. It closed completely in 1988, and is now being once again restored. St Cecilia's Hall (180) a historic concert hall in the Cowgate, which dates back to 1763. Other festivals in Edinburgh About ten other festivals are held in Edinburgh at about the same time as the International Festival. Collectively, the entire group is referred to as the Edinburgh Festival or Edinburgh Festivals. Most notable is the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which started as an offshoot of the International Festival in the first year of its operation (although not known as such at the beginning), and has since grown to be the world's largest arts and media festival. The Edinburgh International Film Festival also began in August 1947 with a programme of documentary films. In the 1990s this festival moved into June. The 1966 Writers' Festival begun by John Calder, Richard Demarco, Jim Haynes, founders of the Paperback Bookshop and Traverse Theatre, eventually led to the Edinburgh International Book Festival also staged in August. The British Army's desire to showcase itself during the festival period led to the independent staging of the first Edinburgh Military Tattoo, featuring displays of piping and dancing, in 1950. This annual event has come to be regarded as a part of the official festival, though it continues to be organised separately. The result is a collection of festivals with more than 2,500 performances and events every day in Edinburgh in August, which is said to be many times larger than any similar conglomeration of arts and media festivals anywhere in the world. See also List of Edinburgh festivals List of opera festivals Edinburgh Festival Fringe 1947 References Further reading External links Edinburgh Festival City Guide to 10 festivals Listings and reviews at