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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5. Heatwave
Heatwave in Edinburgh - Youngsters Gordon Macpherson and Neill MacPherson eating ice cream at an ice cream van in Princes Street, August 1961. Photo: -
7. The horse had bolted
Horse bolted down Liberton Brae Edinburgh in 1961 - Pensioner & part-time petrol pump attendant Mr Henry Richmond who stopped the horse. Photo: -
8. Grand finale of the Edinburgh Tattoo
Grand finale of the Edinburgh Tattoo in 1961 - a floodlit Edinburgh Castle and battlements. Photo: -