Back of the Book:

The Edinburgh Festival of those days was a much more accessible village... The ground rules were well enough understood. Everything about it was containable. The Fringe was the seed bed for talent and ran happily in step with its established elders and betters. They both knew their place.

But then something equally remarkable was about to take place in the New Town of the city I knew and loved...

1947. The beginning of the Edinburgh Festival and Richard Demarco – later to become gallery director, artist and teacher – is at the heart of it and has been every year since.

The same year, Roddy Martine is born. In 1963 when, at the age of sixteen, he interviewed Sir Yehudi Menuhin and David Frost for an Edinburgh Festival magazine he edited and the following year, met Marlene Dietrich.

Both Richard and Roddy have unique perspectives on the most remarkable international festival of the arts the world has ever known. They have witnessed its evolution over the years and are passionate believers in the power of creativity within everyone.

In this fascinating book, Richard – the 2013 UK recipient of the Citizen of Europe medal – explores the original world vision of Sir John Falconer and Rudolph Bing and, with Roddy, recalls the highs and lows of The Edinburgh International Festival, The Fringe, Art, Book, Jazz and Television Festivals, and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Now in its eighth decade, can the Edinburgh Festival survive? Where do we go from here?

Reviews:

His challenge (“What on Earth are you doing here?”) was to provoke his audience into actively promoting the language of the arts through their work and deeds – not just sitting in the audience nodding along. CHARLIE ELLIS, Bellacaledonia

Praise for Richard Demarco:

As well as being recognised internationally as an artist, Richard is equally recognised as the promoter of exhibitions and theatre events that have broken new ground in Britain and further beyond, to which the long list of his national and international awards and honours attests. His writing is as idiosyncratic and enthralling as his drawings, driven by true passion and belief, the personal account of an artist whose deeply rooted and abiding love for his native Scotland shines clearly in his words. RICHARD NOYCE

The Scottish artist Richard Demarco once said: "The Scots think of it as their capital; they're too possessive, Edinburgh belongs to the world." And following a recent visit to the Scottish capital, I can see what he means. MICHAEL MCCREADY, Belfast Telegraph

It wouldn’t be the Festival without Demarco. JOHN McLELLAN