Relaxing at the Usher Hall

Listening to international musicians from the comfort of a bean bag, it must be festival time.

Watching (and sketching) the orchestra from a bean bag.

As part of the ‘Bean bag concerts’ the seats in the stalls of the Usher Hall have been removed and relaxed with bright colourful bean bags.

I sat on one at the back of the room and scribbled away as Ilumina, the São Paulo-based artist collective of musicians played their instruments while moving around infront of me. Dressed in colourful outfits the effect was mesmerising and I could have sat there all day listening and sketching.

Ilumina were only here for a three concerts and only one with the bean bags but there were other shows in the Edinburgh International Festival doing this and you can find out more about those here.

The collective Ilumina bring together talented young people from diverse backgrounds in Latin America and create boundary-breaking music fuelled by a radiant spirit of community and inclusion. I loved it and could tell everyone off the stage did too, I hope they return to Edinburgh soon. See more about the collective here.