Edinburgh Festival Attempting to Salvage Program After Fire

Organizers of the Edinburgh Festival--the world’s largest arts festival--worked against the clock Thursday to salvage their program after a fire destroyed part of a theater.

Performances by the Mark Morris Dance Group from the United States, the Canadian Opera Company and the Welsh National Opera were under threat because of the suspected arson, which occurred at the back of the newly refurbished Playhouse Theatre in its scenery storage area.

More than 12,000 tickets have been sold for the three dance and opera events due to take place at the Playhouse during the festival, which starts Sunday.

Officials were trying to arrange alternative venues for some of the shows while looking at the possibility of using the theater as planned later in the festival.