If like us, you have missed the festivals this month, we encourage you to make the most of these rainy days to enjoy some beautiful, challenging and exciting content available online at the moment. There is a lot for parents out there to enjoy! Most of it has been specially commissioned or created for an online platform and while much of it is free to watch, all arts organisations and artists rely on your support for their survival and encourage you to donate if you can.
National Theatre of Scotland's Scenes for Survival
Scenes for Survival is a new season of digital short artworks, created in response to the current Covid-19 outbreak.
Each artwork has been exceptionally created by a quarantine creative team, connecting remotely, made up of a performer(s), writer and director and filmed by the performers, from their personal spaces of isolation. Over 100 leading artists and creatives have collaborated to create and release more than forty unique films over the coming weeks and months. All Scenes for Survival content is free to audiences.
Don't miss Tiger is Out, an extract from Oliver Emanuel's forthcoming play I Am Tiger, broadcast on BBC YouTube. I Am Tiger was originally developed and supported by Imaginate’s Accelerator programme.
Fringe of Colour
Fringe of Colour is a multi-award-winning initiative dedicated to supporting Black and Brown people/People of Colour at the Edinburgh festivals, as artists, workers and audience members. The project began as a database of shows and developed into a free ticket scheme in 2019, providing people of colour with tickets to attend shows by performers of colour at the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.
With all live events cancelled, Fringe of Colour have launched their first ever online arts festival, an independent streaming service that will host over 40 films made by Black and Brown people/People of Colour throughout August 2020. The £10 Festival pass gives you access to all films and events.
Traverse Festival
This year The Traverse Theatre has burst out of August and extended its Festival programme throughout the rest of the year with Traverse 3, their new online venue, which will be a permanent space alongside their physical stages.
There's a range of stories available, created for, or reimagined in, a variety of formats, including films, podcasts, audio plays, performed readings and open access scripts, as well as conversations and provocations for audiences to join. Almost everything is free to watch, listen to, read or otherwise experience.
The Book Festival Online
This year, the Edinburgh International Book Festival has curated a special online edition featuring author events and debates. Through the magic of technology, they are crossing continents and time zones to beam events from more than 30 countries straight into your home. You’ll also be able chat with fellow Festival goers via digital chatrooms and take part in Q&A sessions.
The family programme includes daily 10 minute Drawalongs with leading children’s illustrators and appearances from Julia Donaldson, Cressida Cowell, Helen Skelton, Dean Atta, George Lester and many more. Most events are available on their website until the end of the 2020 Festival.
Edinburgh International Cultural Summit
The Summit is a biennial ministerial forum which brings together Culture Ministers, artists, thinkers and arts leaders from around the world to share ideas, expertise and best practice, with a view to inspiring positive change in cultural policy and investment.
You can immerse yourself in these digital performances assembled and recorded for this Special Edition, hear in-depth interviews with a diverse range of contributors, or watch the Summit Webinars. All content is free and available for many months to come.