This year's Edinburgh International Festival will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a range of his works.

Its programme for the three-week event was unveiled on Wednesday morning and features performances from almost 2450 artists from 36 nations.

First appearances at the festival include Australian satirist Barry Humphries, Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli and Scottish rock band Mogwai, while audiences can celebrate Shakespeare's work with adaptations of three of his plays.

Theatre-maker Thomas Ostermeier will return to the festival with a reworking of Richard III in a production from Schaubuhne Theatre in Berlin, while Cheek by Jowl offers a production of Measure for Measure which draws parallels with modern Russia.

British-born director Dan Jemmett and his French-based company will bring Eat a Crocodile bring Shake, a five-piece re-working of Twelfth Night.

The Bard's influence also extends through the classical music programme, with Shakespearean-inspired music from Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, Berlioz, Strauss and Tchaikovsky in concerts at the Usher and Queen's halls - where classical musicians will gather with 42 concerts and recitals.

Festival director Fergus Linehan said: "The International Festival is an invitation from the people of Scotland to people from all over the world to join us in an unparalleled celebration of creativity, virtuosity and originality.

"The calibre, ambition and passion of the artists and ensembles in this year's programme combined with Edinburgh's electric festival atmosphere will make for an unforgettable experience for newcomers and international festival veterans alike."

The start of Edinburgh's festival season will be celebrated with a free, public outdoor event on August 7 with Deep Time, a digitally-animated artwork using Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock as the canvas for projections and illuminations inspired by the city's past set to a specially-compiled soundtrack by Mogwai.

Other highlights of the festival, which runs from August 5 to 29, include director John Tiffany's return to Scotland with the European premiere of his Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie.

A special concert series will celebrate Scottish contemporary music - from post-punk to post-rock, art-school infused pop, Scots traditional and modern folk, electronica and hip-hop.

Actor Alan Cumming will take up residence at the Hub on the Royal Mile over three weeks and 20 performances with his cabaret show Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs!.

Leonie Bell, director of arts at Creative Scotland, said: "The 2016 programme for the Edinburgh International Festival is an exciting mix of the classical and the contemporary, when artists and audiences from Scotland and the world will come together across venues and sites throughout Edinburgh to share in a magnificent three weeks, filled with dance, music, opera and theatre."

It also emerged on Wednesday that oil and gas giant BP is no longer a sponsor of the event.

The festival confirmed this in a tweet, adding: "They've been great supporters but all sponsorships come to an end."

The news, which was welcomed by environmental group Friends of the Earth, follows two protests against the partnership during last year's event.

Ric Lander from Friends of the Earth Scotland said: "Edinburgh International Festival should be congratulated on freeing itself from fossil fuel sponsorship.

"We know that most fossil fuels reserves must be kept in the ground if we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."

A spokesman for BP said: "We are delighted to have supported the Edinburgh International Festival for a number of years however, as a result of the current business environment, we have reluctantly decided not to renew our sponsorship this year.

"We wish the festival all the best in its preparations."