Virgin Money Fireworks Concert 2014

WHAT: Virgin Money Fireworks Concert 2014
WHEN: Sunday 31st August 2014
WHERE: Edinburgh, Scotland

The annual Edinburgh International Festival has been part and parcel of the entertainment for the region since 1947 and it came about as a result of the need for people to gather together after World War II.

Originally billed as ‘The Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama' the basic theme has changed very little over the years. The original organisers, Rudolf Bing, Henry Harvey Wood and various other gathered civic leaders decided that the festival was from the outset very much a case of where your imagination could take you and resulted in a number of ‘fringe’ events sprouting up which has in turn added another facet as these uninvited ‘guests’ created the incredibly popular Edinburgh Fringe event.

In addition to the MASSIVE Virgin Money Fireworks Concert, which brings the event to a magnificent close, there is music as diverse as the Polish Radio Choir who perform all over the World playing alongside the exceptional Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a male choral group from South Africa who perform in the traditional Zulu style and are multi Grammy Award winners and theatrical performances of the brilliant ‘Ganesh Vs The Third Reich’ to dance from the exceptionally talented Akram Khan with his combination of classical Indian Kathak dance with his contemporary dance roots.

The Firework Concert features some of classical music’s most instantly recognisable pieces of music. This year continues with their preferred ‘war’ theme and the music selections continue to reflect this.

Some of the featured pieces include:

• Ride of the Valkyries – Wagner
• Egmont Overture – Beethoven
• War March of the Priests - Mendelsson
• 1812 Overture – Tchaikovsky

The 1812 Overture was created in celebration of Russia’s win over Napoleon’s armies and The Ride of the Valkyries was used in the Disney feature film, Fantasia and parts of it were used in Star Wars as ‘incidental music’.

For anyone visiting, you have a number of options in store for seeing the fireworks. The best way of course would be to enjoy the musical performances and then remain seated in the best seats in the house to see the magnificent fireworks. Alternatively, there are standing tickets available for Princes Street Gardens which are considerably less expensive but you will have to get into place well in advance of the performances to ensure that you have a birds-eye view.

It will of course be spectacular and if you are lucky enough to get to visit the area, keep your phone handy for that video footage and we would love to see any shots you take.