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Edinburgh Festivals Go Out With a Bang!

The 2013 Edinburgh International Festival season was brought to a colourful climax on Sunday evening with a 45 minute display of spectacular fireworks set against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

Those lucky enough to get tickets to the concert in Princes Street Gardens were treated to a wonderful fireworks extravaganza choreographed to music by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Many others braved a climb up Arthur’s Seat to get a glimpse of the show from Salisbury Crags, while those looking for a less taxing Sunday evening stroll descended on Inverleith Park.

The Scottish weather threatened to spoil the party, with the viewing point on the Mound having to close early due to high winds. However, in true Edinburgh Festival fashion, the crowd’s spirits could not be dampened and over 250,000 people across the city braved the elements for this annual spectacle.

Over 400,000 fireworks lit up Edinburgh’s night sky with an astonishing total of four tonnes of explosives used. Despite lasting less than an hour the display takes months to plan with seven days of on-site preparation by 15 experts from Pyrovision. The team, headed up by pyrotechnic wizard Keith Webb, have been coming to Edinburgh Castle since the fireworks displays began back in the mid-nineties.

After the glamour of the big event, the clean-up operation began! Edinburgh Castle opens to visitors from 9.30am so we only have a few hours to bring the site back to its usual spotless self in the aftermath of such an explosive event. Spare a thought for our cleaners and Monument Conservation staff who were back on-site from 5.30am on Monday morning!

Why not share your photos from the night on Twitter @EdinburghCastle or on our Facebook page? We’d love to see your pictures from the night.

Until next year…

Emma Bowie, Events & Recruitment Coordinator
Edinburgh Castle

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