280m reasons to be grateful for festivals

ALL across Scotland, festival season is stirring again. It is becoming more and more vibrant and adventurous.

VisitScotland speaks of a “mind-boggling” array of festivals and events for “foodies, whisky aficionados, music enthusiasts, history buffs, cultural admirers, adventurous souls and everyone in between”.

Many of the festivals need no introduction. Edinburgh’s own collection – the International Festival and the Fringe, and other festivals ranging across science, literature, art, jazz & blues, and film – have annual ticket sales of about 4.5 million. The latest figures put their collective economic impact at £280 million.

In Glasgow, Celtic Connections begins on Thursday. Ahead lie the Glasgow Film Festival (February 20- March 3) and the Glasgow International Comedy Festival (March 14-31).

Other major Scottish cities benefit culturally and economically from their own festivals but there is now a remarkable range of festivals being staged not just by individual towns but also by organisations devoted to interests as diverse as whisky, food and ballooning.

Stranraer Oyster Festival, to take one example, has made a notable impact on the local economy in only two years.

Music festivals have become key, too. TRSNMT, on Glasgow Green (July 12-14) has been a substantial success since launching in 2017. HebCelt, the Hebridean Celtic Festival on Stornoway (July 17-20), has in a quarter century grown from an event created primarily “for the community” to a summer event that draws visitors from across the globe, as well as making a major impact on the local economy. Oban Live (June 7-8) injected more than £1.4m to the local economy last year, and brought “significant investment for the town over a non-holiday weekend”.

EventScotland, VisitScotland’s events directorate, continues to financially support a diverse range of cultural and sports events, including the newly-launched Burns And Beyond, in Edinburgh (January 22-27), and Dumfries’s Big Burns Supper (January 24-February 3), which are both part of Scotland’s Winter Festivals. It has also supported the Stranraer Oyster Festival and the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (May 1-6).

In 2017/18, EventScotland invested £2.2m in 68 events through its core funding programmes, generating £77.4m in net economic impact. Events play a significant role in Scotland’s visitor economy, with figures placing the value of the industry at £3.5 billion in 2015.

Paul Bush, VisitScotland’s director of events, said: “Events play a significant role in our visitor economy and our aim is to help build a strong portfolio of events and festivals across the country to attract both international and regional visitors to experience everything Scotland has to offer.”