A QUARTER of a million people are on Saturday expected to gather across Edinburgh to watch the International Festival’s closing fireworks.

The display will mark the end of the 2002 festival season which has seen thousands of performances across the International |Festival and Fringe, as well as the Book, Film, Music, and TV festivals. Organisers claim it will be “stunningly choreographed”.

The fireworks display, which will see the explosion of four tonnes of explosives, is designed by Will Scott and Keith Webb. The pair responsible for the much heralded Jubilee firework display at Buckingham Palace.

Organisers of the event, which has been running since 1982, claim it has taken a team of 15 people six days to lay out the display of 100,000 rockets.

The last tickets for the concert were put on sale last Sunday at the Hub for anybody willing to weather long queues.
For those who haven’t been able to get a ticket, Princes Street and the Mound will be closed to cars as of 4pm.

Surrounding streets will be closed from 7pm. In addition there is a family viewing area in Inverleith Park. The concert will be broadcast to Edinburgh via Forth One and Forth Two.

The International Festival has spent the last half of this month mired in controversy after Fest revealed it was to axe its tremendously popular £5 concert series because they were not economical.

The concert series saw world-class musicians performing at bargain basement prices in the Usher Hall.

Rainbow Ducks, London