From eye-opening exhibitions to exceptional summer stage shows, you heard it all here first.

Festival Edinburgh Fringe Festival  

Throughout the month of August, locals and tourists alike can enjoy Edinburgh’s multifaceted line up of festivals and arts programming. Since launching in 1947, it has become the world’s largest arts festival. Lasting for over 25 days, each day more than 3,000 performances take place, and in 2017 over 2.5 million tickets were purchased across the month—this equates to 234 miles worth of tickets, long enough to reach from Dumfries to Inverness and exceeded only by the World Cup and the Olympics. In fact, it would take you five years to watch every performance at the Fringe. With performers from over 70 countries, a host of actors from the Edinburgh stage have gone on to become household names, including Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson.

Summer Exhibition    

Celebrating its 251st year, the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts is back (until 12 August). Initiated in 1769 with no interruption since, this year the show features a whopping 1,500 works. Coordinated by British painter Jock McFadyen RA, it’s an accumulation of works by artists from all stages in their respective careers. Headline works include pieces by Polly Morgan, Charles Avery and Mat Collishaw.

BP Portrait Prize

The BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world and represents the very best in contemporary portraiture. This year, the exhibition will run at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 13 June to 20 October. All but one of the four shortlisted artists were first-time entrants to the prestigious competition. Brighton-based artistCharlie Schafferwon the £35,000 top prize for his portrait of an English literature student wearing a fake fur coat. Imara in her Winter Coat, was said to be inspired by Titian’s Portrait of Girolamo Fracastoro. With the prize fund totaling £74,000, the award aims to encourage artists to develop portraiture in their work.