Neil McIntosh Editor of The Scotsman

Hello from The Scotsman.

 

Here in Edinburgh, there's a palpable sense of excitement: the sun is shining, and the city is shaping up for the first proper Festival since 2019. Both the International Festival and The Fringe start tonight although (as some of you have reminded me on social media this week!) a few, very enjoyable, shows have already started.

 

 

 

A lot has changed in the last three years, but at least for the rest of the month we can revel in the colour, sounds and creativity of the greatest collection of arts festivals in the world.

 

It is the 75th anniversary of the International Festival's foundation, of course, and I'm constantly reminded of The Scotsman's leading role in the foundation and growth of those festivals and, of course, every year in assessing and championing the events put on by a global cast of performers.

 

In the depths of the Covid crisis, we resolved to keep our Festival coverage, and its spirit, alive in some way - that resolve gave birth to the amazing Scotsman Sessions you can find online - and I'm delighted that The Scotsman will, again, offer an unrivalled service to readers this year as the events roar back. As our Arts Editor, Roger Cox, wrote last week, we are not aware of any other daily newspaper, anywhere in the world, that produces more professional arts criticism than we do in a typical August.

 

 

As a subscriber to The Scotsman, you'll have a front row seat - perhaps literally, if you've taken advantage of our free tickets offer - but certainly metaphorically. Our brilliant team of critics are fanning out across the cities venues - from the established theatres to the improvised spaces and church halls - to find the best, the freshest and (occasionally) worst the Festival can bring. In our pages over the coming weeks, you'll be able to read their verdicts.

 

We hope you enjoy it, and manage to take in a little of what's on offer in person. (And don't forget to sign up for our new arts newsletter if you want to get updates in your inbox).

 

 

 

 

The rest of the world goes on, of course, and it's not all good news: the youngest and the poorest in our society will feel the coming recession hardest. That the bad news lands in the middle of a - frankly - uninspiring Conservative leadership election (our columnist Laura Waddell put it even more strongly) is unfortunate.

 

That their ideas, and leadership from the outgoing Prime Minister and his Chancellor, are so poor is entirely a culmination of the chaotic policy, and politics, of the last six years. We'll continue to analyse the impact - and potential routes out of this mess - in the days and weeks to come.

 

In the meantime, I hope you can find some escape in the days ahead. The weather's looking good through the weekend and especially into next week, so if you can make it to a show or two, conditions are perfect. For everyone else, I hope you enjoy living vicariously through the pages, online and in print, of your Scotsman's coverage.

 

Thank you, as ever, for your support.