A modern piazza in the West End of Edinburgh, Festival Square lies on the western side of Lothian Road opposite the Usher Hall. The square was laid out in 1984. The Sheraton Hotel (1982) occupies the west side of the square, with the prestigious offices in Capital House (to the north) and Clydesdale Bank Plaza / The Exchange to the south.
The Square includes several public art installations and the Bell Tower was moved here from the opposite side of Lothian Road in 2010. Between 2009 and its removal in 2015, this was the site of the 'Big Screen Edinburgh', a giant television screen showing BBC news and special events. The Square has been less successful than hoped as a public space because it is not quite in the city centre.
Festival Square occupies the site of the good sheds that formed part of the former Princes Street Railway Station, once the largest in Scotland, which closed in 1965.
