This room can be considered as the birthplace of the Edinburgh Festival, the capital city's world-reknowned celebration of the arts each summer. In 1946, the 6th Earl of Rosebery was appointed chairman of the newly-formed Scottish Tourist Board. His wife Eva, an accomplished amateur pianist, was instrumental in bringing together the city and tourist authorities with the distinguished group of music and drama producers who were seeking a suitable British site for an international festival. Without their influence- and the funding Lord Rosebery provided from his Derby prize-money- this wonderful event might well have gone elsewhere.