If you can't quite wait until the start of the Festival, there's still just time to get tickets for the curtain-raising Castle Concerts.  These crowd-pleasing annual outdoor events sneakily borrow the grandstand seating set up for the Military Tattoo, playing in the magnificent surroundings of Edinburgh Castle's Esplanade.  Though not technically a part of the Festival, the concerts are a welcome warm-up before the Jazz and Blues Festival kicks off official proceedings (on 25 July this year).

There's still a smattering of tickets for the Proclaimers concert we mentioned back in February, the first event to declare for the Castle this year.  At time of writing, you can get your passes through Ticketmaster, though unfortunately you may need to book tickets one at a time and accept that you won't be sitting together.  The Proclaimers - Edinburgh Castle, Saturday 19 July 2008, 7pm.

A week later, it's time to brush up your Gaelic with bilingual folk-rockers Runrig.  In their 35th year and despite several line-up changes, Runrig's lion is rampant right now, thanks to a chart-topping charity remix of their anthemic sing-along Loch Lomond.  At time of writing, there's decent availability through Tickets Scotland.  Runrig - Edinburgh Castle, Saturday 26 July 2008, 7pm.

Tickets Scotland is also your best bet for Boyzone, whose reunion tour swings past the Castle on Friday 18 July.  Girls Aloud balance up the sexes on Friday 25, and at time of writing are available through both Tickets Scotland and Ticketmaster.

The last tickets for all these concerts will go fast - don't delay.