The Hub, the International Festival's impressive box office on Edinburgh's Royal Mile

Trumpeting its tagline "artists without borders", and with a new-look, rough-and-ready style, this year's programme harks back to the spirit which founded the Festival in 1947.  It was an ambitious and bold post-war attempt to heal a broken continent through the expression of art, since when - the introduction notes - "borders have been redrawn in every direction... cultural, social and even religious".

Barriers of language, at least, are thoroughly trounced by a polyglot programme, with performances in Russian, Polish, German and even Bosnian featuring on the agenda.  The Middle East is embraced too, with Farsi and Arabic joining the linguistic mix.  (There will, of course, be English supertitles for all performances.)

Getting the programme

The easiest way to get hold of this year's programme is from the International Festival's website, where you can either browse events online or download the whole thing to read at your leisure.  The website's also where you can sign up to the Festival's mailing list and receive a paper copy of the brochure through the post.

If you're in Edinburgh, you can also pick up the programme from The Hub box office on the Royal Mile, or (subject to availability) from all major theatres.

Getting the tickets

We've updated our definitive guide to International Festival ticketing with new details for 2008.  Broadly speaking, at this stage of proceedings it's easiest to book online, through the Festival's excellent Hub Tickets facility.  If you prefer the personal touch, the box office is open 6 days a week on 0131 473 2000.

At time of writing, we believe there's good availability for all shows (with the exception of the end-of-festival fireworks concert, where special arrangements apply).  In fact, many events will remain available until well into August, but a few - especially one-offs like the opening concert - will sell out shortly.

To tell how fine you're cutting it, you can check current availability through the online booking system.  Act like you're going to buy a ticket, and you'll come to a screen with a diagram of the venue: then you can wave the mouse over particular areas to see the number of tickets remaining.

Future programme launches

While the International Festival is undoubtedly the most prestigious of Edinburgh's summer events, it's a long way from being the biggest.  In sheer size it's eclipsed by the famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which will see around 2,000 shows descend on the city in a mammoth four-week programme.

The Fringe's box office opens in June.  If you'd like us to let you know when its programme's launched - along with details of Edinburgh's other summer Festivals - just sign up for our low-volume mailing list, Ticket Alert.