East Princes Street Gardens - Grass given first cut of year by Jimmy Hunt watched by Raymond Collins and taxi driver James Love in 1961East Princes Street Gardens - Grass given first cut of year by Jimmy Hunt watched by Raymond Collins and taxi driver James Love in 1961
East Princes Street Gardens - Grass given first cut of year by Jimmy Hunt watched by Raymond Collins and taxi driver James Love in 1961

17 photos transporting you back to Edinburgh in 1961

As the nation settled into the Swinging Sixties, more time, money, and energy than ever before was being devoted to transforming Edinburgh into the festival city that we all know and love (or loathe) today.

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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