A Guide to Deep Time

Edinburgh International Festival gets underway this Sunday with The Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time – but what's beneath that mystical title? We dig deep for dos and don’ts on experiencing this audiovisual adventure through time and space

Firstly, what actually is Deep Time?

It’s a philosophical concept conceived by 18th Century geologist and Edinburgh local James Hutton, which uses a form of geochemistry to determine the age of the Earth. Obviously.

Ahem.

More pertinently to your Sunday night enjoyment, though, it's the title of Edinburgh International Festival’s gigantic opening event. Some 15km of cables and a reported 42 projectors will work their magic on a 7000-square-meter coverage of the Castle and its volcanic home, Castle Rock. Appropriately, post-rock legends Mogwai have contributed a soundtrack which has been reworked to include explosive added extras. The perfomance explores and celebrates the ridiculous landscape and baffling intellectual history of the city, spanning some 350 million years of incendiary and extraordinary activity. 

Mogwai, photo: Jassy Earl

Do:

• Pick up your ticket from The Hub in plenty of time. Deep Time is very much sold out, with 27,000 free tickets having been snapped up over the last month. Be smart and miss that last-minute box office dash.

• Use the right entrances. There are three, count 'em: Castle Terrace, Johnston Terrace and Spittal Street. There’s even a map!

• Make your instagram buddies jealous. Photography is very much encouraged and the event suggests the use of #deeptime to share your snaps, but obviously feel free to follow your heart on that one. 

• Make use of the designated viewing area for wheelchair users, if you need to! Those viewpoints aside, the arena is majoritively standing room only. 

Don’t:

• Be late. Doors to the arena open at 8pm on 7 August, and last admittance is at 10pm – The Skinny has been advised that no stragglers will be permitted. You’ve been told!

• Take a massive brolly and block everyone’s view. Be a pal.

• Go demanding to see Mogwai. There's a time and a place for that, and it's coming later in the Fest... 

• Try and blag entry without a ticket – you’ve got absolutely zero chance. However! The entire showdown will be live-streamed via Facebook Live and Periscope, and you won’t have to risk our ‘summer’ weather. Ideal.