

17 photos transporting you back to Edinburgh in 1961
Now in its teens, the Edinburgh International Festival had already secured its position as the city’s primary cultural event.
While far from attracting the millions of visitors it enjoys today, the late summer arts jamboree ensured a steady flow of tourism cash would pour into the Capital’s coffers each year.
As our archive pictures show, the festival, along with the ongoing construction of the Forth Road Bridge, was most definitely dominating news pages in Edinburgh in 1961.
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1. Festival crowds at floral clock
Ths statue of Allan Ramsay by the Floral Clock in Princes Street gardens with street decorations during Edinburgh Festival 1961. Photo: TSPL

2. Balancing act
Men fearlessly walk ropes during construction of the Forth Road Bridge, August 2 1961. Photo: Stan Warburton

3. Tram lines are removed
Tram lines are removed from Salisbury Place in May 1961 - Driller Hugh Burns works in a muffle box to drown out the noise for patients in nearby Longmore Hospital. Photo: -

4. St Michael and the Devil
Sir Jacob Epstein's statue of St Michael and the Devil erected on the roof of Waverley Market to promote the Epstein Exhibition during Edinburgh Festival 1961. Photo: -