New deal to boost Edinburgh’s festivals
● Events are set to be benefit from new venues, gap sites and empty buildings
New cultural venues and event spaces are expected to be created under a landmark deal agreed between Edinburgh Festival organisers and the city council to try to ensure the Scottish capital remains a world-leading destination for events.
Cultural elements will be built into new developments, empty buildings across the city would be made available to festivals and more events would be held in public areas in future years following the signing of the concordat.
More support for the city’s live music scene both during and outwith Edinburgh’s main festivals is to be prioritised while new “good neighbour” guidelines are expected to be drawn up to minimise disruption for residents from events.
Edinburgh would become a “Green Festival City” under the new vision, which is also expected to see world-class digital infrastructure installed across the city to ensure the festivals can deploy the latest technology.
Other projects in development include an accommodation strategy aimed at tackling the soaring cost of staying in the city during the main festivals and cutting the cost of securing licences and permits for events.
The festivals will work with the council to create a “route map for the development of the city’s cultural infrastructure”. A separate project will see the drawing up of a “hotmap of spaces available for cultural purposes”.
These initiatives have been announced after the confirmation of £20 million from the Scottish and UK governments for a new world-class concert hall in the New Town.
The joint agreement was signed in the wake of the second annual “health check” on the city’s festivals since the last major report on the future of the events, now estimated to be worth more than £313m to theeconomy.thestudy,thundering Hooves 2.0, a follow-up to a previous report in 2006, warned that many of Edinburgh’s “competitors cities” were investing in new infrastructure to try to challenge its long-standing success.
A key recommendation of that study was that the city and the festivals “do not rest on their laurels and become complacent”. Festivals Edinburgh director Julia Amour said: “The Thundering Hooves 2.0 report highlights the need to develop Edinburgh’s leading position as a global festival city, so it’s great to see the key areas firmly on the agenda for the new council. The city landscape plays a crucial role in the success of the festivals and our jointly agreed priorities enable us to continue to work with partners to ensure that we offer world class experiences for everyone.”
A council spokeswoman said: “As we celebrate another extremely successful festival period, it’s fitting that we take stock of the many different elements that make Edinburgh work so well as a ‘Festival City’ and how we can continue to build on this.
“The agreement will help us pinpoint our shared priorities, identifying ways in which we canworktogethertostrengthen our cultural offering, and deliver as a ‘Festival City’ along with other partners.”