Edinburgh’s festivals now reaching nine in ten of the city’s schools
More than 90 per cent of Edinburgh’s schools are now involved with the city’s festivals in some way, new research has revealed.
The first in-depth study of its kind found that pupils took part in special events in theatres, concert halls, museums, galleries, parks, gardens and in the classroom 58,000 times in the space of 18 months.
The “mapping” project, carried out by umbrella organisations Festivals Edinburgh, is said to be reaching parts of the city that would otherwise have no participation in events.
The study suggests the council wards which have recorded the lowest attendance at the city’s major events have also seen the highest levels of pupil participation. Its findings are expected to help the festivals develop and target more yearround activities and projects.
Although two thirds of Edinburgh’s
population are said to attend at least one festival event each year, this drops significantly in some of its most deprived areas, such as Wester Hailes, Muirhouse, West Pilton and Granton.
However among the most heavily involved were Craigroyston Primary and Craigroyston Community High, in Muirhouse, Forthview Primary, in West Pilton, and Canal View Primary, in Wester Hailes.
The report states: “It’s clear that through their work with schools, the festivals are successfully engaging with areas and communities that would otherwise tend not to participate in their programmes.
“The council wards which record the lowest attendance at festivals are among the highest in terms of taking part in school programmes and numbers of engagements. Many of these wards have areas which are among the most deprived in the country.”
New projects include a “Teachers’ Theatre Club,” which was instigated by the Fringe and children’s festival Imaginate, summer, the book festival instigating a writerin-residence scheme for several schools in the city, the art festival working towards the creation of a new work of art in Wester Hailes and jazz festival getting primary pupils in the annual city centre carnival.
Festivals Edinburgh director Julia Amour said: “This is first time we’ve ever pulled together a compete map, not just of all of the schools that the festivals work with, but all the specific projects and activities.
“We wanted a city-wide picture to ensure we’re working as effectively as possible, but also to let all schools understand what’s out there and how they can make the most of it, and let us really grow the year-round impact and engagement of the festivals.”