Edinburgh International Festival launches a design competition with its partners Virgin Money and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and broadcaster Forth One for children from Edinburgh, the Lothian’s and Fife to create this year’s Virgin Money Fireworks Concert posters.
The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert is one of Edinburgh’s favourite annual events and closes Edinburgh’s summer Festival season. Over 400,000 fireworks choreographed to live orchestral music will light up the sky over Edinburgh against the unique backdrop of its iconic Castle, in what is the largest fireworks concert of its type in the world. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Garry Walker, will perform classical favourites including Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, accompanied by an awe-inspiring display created by international firework artists Pyrovision.
Three winning designs will be used as the basis to create a series of posters which will be seen across Edinburgh throughout the summer. The designs should capture the spectacle and excitement of the event, using bright bold colours and shapes to create eye-catching firework effects. Entries will be judged by DJs Boogie and Arlene from the Forth One Breakfast Show, and will also be shared via the Festival’s digital channels, including the website at www.eif.co.uk
Three winners will receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the fireworks set-up at Edinburgh Castle in the days before the event and four tickets to enjoy the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert from Princes Street Garden. The winners and other shortlisted entries will also be celebrated in an exhibition at the Virgin Money Lounge in St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh, which will run throughout August and is open to public. The exhibition will be launched on Tuesday 29 July at 6pm, with a special opening event at the Lounge for the winners, their families and invited guests, hosted by Virgin Money with the Edinburgh International Festival, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Forth One.
Competition entrants must be primary school children aged 5 – 12 resident in Edinburgh, the Lothian’s or Fife. Any 2-D/flat materials can be used to create a picture, which should be supplied in a landscape orientation at either A4 or A3 size. If submitting a digital entry, images must be 3500 pixels wide by 5000 pixels high and supplied in Jpeg (.jpg), Tiff (.tif), or Photoshop file (.psd) formats.
Entries should be sent to Susie Gray, Edinburgh International Festival, The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh, EH1 2NE. Digital images should be submitted to the same address either on a disc or a flash memory stick. Entries must be accompanied by a completed application form, which is available for download at
eif.co.uk/vmfireworksposter.