August
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 
From the very beginnings of The Edinburgh International Festival, people put on shows of their own outside of the official Festival, and soon these grew into the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - the world's largest arts festival. Theatre, comedy, music, children's shows, dance and exhibitions are just part of what makes up some28,000 performances in 261venues across the city.
www.edfringe.com

August - September
Edinburgh International Festival 
The festival represents a diverse, spectacular presentation of the arts including classical music, theatre, opera and dance in the city's major theatres and concert halls as well as a number of smaller venues across the city over three weeks. People travel from across the world to see and perform in Edinburgh's focal event of the year. And it's not just three weeks of the year that the festival presence is felt as throughout the year the festival runs an outreach and education programme bringing international artists together with children, adults, arts professionals, and festival audiences in Edinburgh and across Scotland.www.eif.co.uk

August
Edinburgh International Book Festival 
Every year Charlotte Square Gardens welcomes world-renowned writers and thinkers as well as new and international authors little known in the UK.  The Book Festival provides a unique forum for the exchange of ideas. Political discussions have tackled subjects including climate change, the Middle East and the ethics of cloning.  The varied events programme is inclusive for all ages.www.edbookfest.co.uk

August
Edinburgh International Film Festival 
Home of innovative and exciting cinema, the EIFF is the longest continuously running film festival in the world and has presented some of cinema's most important and exciting moments and played host to the world's greatestfilmmakers.www.edfilmfest.org.uk

Early September
Edinburgh Mela 
A vibrant festival for all the family, the Mela brings together many different cultures to celebrate the breadth and depth of Scotland's cultural diversity and it has subsequently become Scotland's largest interculturalfestival.www.edinburgh-mela.co.uk

Starts third Friday of October
Scottish Storytelling Festival 
This festival features the best in storytelling from Scotland and beyond.  The Storytelling Centre is on The Royal Mile and hosts storytelling events for all ages throughout the year. www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk and www.cityofliterature.com

November 30
St Andrew's Day 
Scotland's MSPs have approved plans to give the patron saint of Scotland his own national holiday -but it would be in place of another bank holiday.

Late November - December
Edinburgh's Christmas
The city offers a packed programme of events from the switching on of the Christmas lights in late November followed by a month of special festive events including performances, fairground rides and markets.www.edinburghschristmas.com