Arts and Culture:
Culturally, Edinburgh is best known for the Edinburgh Festival, which is a series of separate events, which run from the end of July until early September each year. What began as a programme of marginal acts has become the largest arts festival in the world, with 1867 different shows being staged in 2006, in 261 venues.
Comedy is now one of the mainstays of the Fringe, with numerous notable comedians getting their 'break' here, often through receipt of the Perrier Award. Running concurrently with the summer festivals, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo occupies the Castle Esplanade every night, with massed pipers and fireworks.
Equally famous is the annual Hogmanay celebration. Originally a street party held on Princes Street and the Royal Mile, the Hogmanay event has been officially organised since 1993. Hogmanay now covers four days of processions, concerts and fireworks, with the street party commencing on Hogmanay.
Edinburgh is home to a large number of museums and libraries, many of which are national institutions. These include the Museum of Scotland, the Royal Museum, the National Library of Scotland, National War Museum of Scotland, the Museum of Edinburgh, Museum of Childhood and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Literature and philosophy.
Edinburgh has a healthy popular music scene. Occasional large gigs are staged at Murrayfield and Meadowbank, with mid-sized events at venues such as the Corn Exchange, HMV Picture House, the Liquid Room, and the Bongo Club. Smaller more intimate shows can be found at venues like The Cabaret Voltaire, The Voodoo Rooms, The Roxy Art House, Bannerman's, Henry's Cellar Bar, and Sneaky Pete's.
Edinburgh is home to Scotland's five National Galleries as well as numerous smaller galleries. The national collection is housed in the National Gallery of Scotland, located on the Mound, and now linked to the Royal Scottish Academy, which holds regular major exhibitions of painting. The contemporary collections are shown in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the nearby Dean Gallery. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery focuses on portraits and photography.
Retail:
Princes Street is the main shopping area in the city centre, with a wide range of stores from souvenir shops, from chains such as Boots and H&M and institutions like Jenners. George Street, north of Princes Street, is home to a number of upmarket chains and independent stores.
The St. James Centre, at the eastern end of George Street and Princes Street, hosts a substantial number of national chains including a large John Lewis. Multrees Walk, adjacent to the St. James Centre, is a recent addition to the city centre, hosting brands such as Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani, Mulberry and Calvin Klein, with Harvey Nichols anchoring the development.
Attractions:
Edinburgh Zoo is a non-profit zoological park located in Corstorphine. The land lies on Corstorphine Hill and provides extensive views of the city. Built in 1913, and owned by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, it receives over 600,000 visitors a year, which makes it Scotland's second most popular paid-for tourist attraction, after Edinburgh Castle.
As well as catering to tourists and locals, the zoo is involved in many scientific pursuits, such as captive breeding of endangered animals, researching into animal behaviour, and active participation in various conservation programs around the world. The zoo is the only one in Britain to house polar bears and koalas, as well as being the first zoo in the world to house and breed penguins.
Edinburgh has two professional football clubs - Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian. They are known locally as Hearts and Hibs and both teams currently play in the Scottish Premier League. Hearts play at Tynecastle Stadium in Gorgie, while Hibs play at Easter Road Stadium, which straddles the former boundary between Edinburgh and Leith.
The Scotland national rugby union team plays at Murrayfield Stadium, which is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union and is also used as a venue for other events, including music concerts. Edinburgh's professional rugby team, Edinburgh Rugby, play in the Celtic Magners League at Murrayfield. It is the largest capacity stadium in Scotland.
In American football, the Scottish Claymores played WLAF/NFL Europe games at Murrayfield, including their World Bowl 96 victory.
