Director Nick Barley says lessons from the pandemic include providing a more accessible festival, so half of this year’s offering will be available online

At least half of the Edinburgh International book festival programme will be broadcast free online this summer, after the pandemic “fundamentally transformed” what the event can offer.

Building on the hybrid format developed over the past two years, the EIBF will return to full-scale, in-person events in theatres around the Edinburgh College of Arts, but director Nick Barley says he aims to continue accessibility for those unable to attend in person, while maintaining the “extraordinary international reach” achieved online last year, via streaming in the festival’s three biggest theatres.

The Edinburgh International book festival will run from 13 to 29 August.