Edinburgh festival fireworks finale gets new sponsor

The show is accompanied by live music from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

A new sponsor has been confirmed for the Edinburgh International Festival's fireworks concert, following the Bank of Scotland's withdrawal last year.

Virgin Money will fund the pyrotechnic finale to the festival on 4 September.

An estimated 250,000 people are expected to watch more than 100,000 fireworks launched from the castle and choreographed to music performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

The event will now be called the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert.

The concert had two previous sponsors during its 28-year history, Glenlivet and Bank of Scotland.

However, the bank announced it was pulling out last year, after a 16-year sponsorship deal worth £4m.

Virgin Money, the financial services division of the Virgin Group, is hiring about 300 people in the city this summer after it secured a lease for a new headquarters at St Andrew Square.

Its chief executive, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, said: "Virgin Money is committed to supporting events which bring communities together and make everyone better off and that is undoubtedly the case with the Edinburgh International Festival Fireworks Concert."