Edinburgh International Festival updates refund policy in wake of coronavirus outbreak

The Edinburgh International Festival will temporarily update its refund policy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, it has been announced.

According to the festival, "if an audience member is unable to attend any event at the 2020 Edinburgh International Festival for any reason related to the coronavirus outbreak, the full cost of the ticket will be refunded."

The annual festival runs from 7 to 31 August, with the full programme to be announced. The company will create a digital event that will be broadcast live on 18 March.

Festival director Fergus Linehan said: "In light of the current coronavirus outbreak, we will cancel all gatherings associated with our 2020 programme launch. Prioritising the wellbeing of our city, our audiences and artists, all launch events will shift online to an interactive format.

"At this point, the Festival is almost five months away. For now, we remain committed to running the International Festival as planned. In hope that the pandemic will be curbed by August, we must continue to provide security for our artists and for our sector. We hope that in August, our Festival will provide a much-needed moment of joy after what will have been a challenging summer. To reassure our audiences, we have also revised our refunds policy to offer anyone with coronavirus related concerns a ticket refund."