The Festival saw 87 events, including performances, live projects, indoor and outdoor exhibitions, and more, across 45 venues — the most ambitious spread of venues in festival history.

EAF, the UK’s largest annual festival of visual art, returned to Edinburgh this August (7—24) with a packed programme of exhibitions, events, and collaborations that took place across the city for the three week festival. A major focus was three weekends of performance and live events, parties, workshops and talks, and more, from Jupiter Artland to warehouses and the arches in Leith, to billboards in Fountainbridge, as well as a range of 36 partner exhibitions across the city. A focus for 2025 was the EAF Pavilion on Leith Street, housing exhibitions and artists’ studios in collaboration with Outer Spaces. 

7,400 engaged with the EAF25 Pavilion programme of talks, workshops and performances, and 150,000 visited a range of exhibitions across the city from Linder and Andy Goldsworthy, to the work of emerging artists such as Asqa Arif, Megan Rudden, and Hamish Halley in the unique venue of the People’s Story Museum. 1,000 people gathered at Jupiter Rising to celebrate the summer with JUPITER RISING X EAF25, and 20,000 people saw the work of Alice Rekab and Linder on special billboard works in collaboration with JACK ARTS. 2,000 attended one-off performances such as Linder’s outdoor ballet in the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh, with over 250 seeing Lewis Walker’s Bornsick in FirstStage Studios, and hundreds gathering on Calton Hill for a live work by Mercedes Azpilicueta, and in St Giles Cathedral to hear the work of Raven Chacon, a UK premiere for the Pulitzer prize winning composition Voiceless Mass. 3,300 attended works by the EAF Civic Programme, widening access within the Festival, and engaging with local communities across the city.

Kim McAleese, Director, EAF, said, “This year was an incredible year for us and we were delighted to host so many one off and special events across the city seen by so many; those who live here, those who have been visiting or who are here as part of visits connected to the festivals. Our commissions saw record numbers of people attending, and engaging. The city was buzzing and our live events, screenings, parties, and workshops, most of which were sold out, were received by audiences with excitement, empathy and care. It was wonderful to collaborate with partners across the city and beyond, to cross disciplines, share ideas, and forge community. We can’t wait for 2026.”