The figurehead of Edinburgh’s festivals has called for an “honest conversation” in the city about their future.
Festivals Edinburgh director Lori Anderson said the city needed to confront questions around how to sustain its long-running cultural events, and ensure they are “affordable and accessible to all”.
Speaking at a reception hosted by Edinburgh University, Ms Anderson described the festivals as “fundamental to our cultural infrastructure, our economy, our international identity and our civic life”.
However, she called for the “whole festivals ecosystem” in Edinburgh to engage in a debate about how to sustain the “extraordinary success” of the festivals ahead of their 80th anniversary in 2027.
Ms Anderson said the city needed to examine where investment from the festivals goes and who carries the costs involved in staging them, as well as ensure those that benefit from the festivals “pay their fair share”.
She spoke out days after the city council controversially pulled the plug on a planned debate over how much visitor levy income should be invested in the festivals, which were valued at more than £850 million for the city’s economy in new research published earlier this year.
Artists, companies and performers involved in the Fringe are estimated to be contributing around £1.1m to the visitor levy pot this month, with the other festivals having to find an additional £150,000 between them to meet the additional accommodation costs.
An eight-page submission from Festivals Edinburgh, which was lodged ahead of last week’s culture committee, urged the city council to use next year’s 80th anniversary as “a springboard, not a sunset” for the city’s annual programme of cultural events.
The report from the umbrella body called on the council to “strengthen the festivals’ international standing, support the next generation of Scottish artists, broaden community participation and build a sustainable foundation for the decades ahead”.
The festivals are hoping to secure a £2m funding boost to underpin their core funding for their 80th anniversary season.
However, council officials have recommended just £550,000 of visitor levy income is used to increase the core funding of festivals, cultural venues and arts organisations in the city next year.
Ms Anderson was due to address councillors at the culture committee, along with Fringe Society chief executive and book festival director Jenny Niven.
However, they were sent away after Margaret Graham, the city’s culture leader, said more time was needed to “find a consensus” on visitor levy spending as the various political groups had put forward proposals which were “significantly” different to what was recommended by senior officials.
Speaking at the festivals reception, Ms Anderson said: “Edinburgh’s festivals are truly extraordinary.
“There is nowhere else in the world quite like this: artists and audiences from across the globe coming together, transforming streets, stages, venues and spaces across the city into places of imagination, discovery, joy and connection. This does not just happen in August – it takes place year-round.
