Edinburgh's Mardi Gras party dropped over funding shortfall

The Herald Scotland

30-04-2025

It has usually been the first major event of the summer festivals season since it was instigated by the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival in 1993.
Read more:
However organisers have cited an £80,000 shortfall in the first of three years of a new Scottish Government funding deal, which they secured in January.
That have also suggested that a three-month delay to the announcement of Creative Scotland's three-year programme, which had been due to be made in October, was also partly responsible for the decision.
The delay has already been blamed by the Edinburgh International Festival for the dropping of its own large-scale opening event this summer as part of a scaling back of its programme.
The Herald revealed earlier this week that organisers of Glasgow's annual book festival had postponed its comeback and were still seeking new dates for the event. Plans for a reboot of Aye Write were affected by the government's decision to delay a new funding settlement for Creative Scotland until the Scottish Budget was announced in December.
Creative Scotland secured a £40 million boost to its main long-term funding programme, receiving the vast majority of £54m in new arts funding confirmed by ministers.
However the budget increase is being rolled out to Creative Scotland across two years, meaning many festivals, events, venues and organisations have been given a reduced offer for the current financial year.
The Edinburgh International Festival has seen its annual funding increase from £2.3m last year year to £3.2m this year but will have to wait another year to receive another £1m it has been pledged. The Edinburgh International Book Festival's funding has increased from £306,000 to £520,000 this year and will rise to £580,000 next year.
Dating back to 1978, the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival has since grown to become one of the biggest events of its type in Europe.
The 10-day festival, which will feature more than 100 events, is one of 141 organisations to receive 'multi-year' Scottish Government for the first time this year, with the jazz celebration receiving £260,000 this year and £340,000 for the following two years.
The event has posted on social media that the annual Mardi Gras would not be going ahead due to 'the ongoing challenges facing the creative industries.'
Its absence is the second major blow for the festival in the space of two years after it was forced to abandon its annual parade through the city centre due to funding problems.
The Edinburgh Festival Carnival, which was previous known as the Edinburgh Festival Cavalcade, had taken over the city centre on the first Sunday of the festivals season since the mid-1970s and had been run by the jazz festival since 2010.
However the parade had to be shelved due to the rising cost of installing temporary security measures in the city centre for the event, forcing the jazz festival to confine its carnival to West Princes Street Gardens in 2023 and 2024.
Funding is in place to ensure the carnival can return there this year, with more than 700 performers due to take part in the free event.
And organisers insist they planning to bring both the Mardi Gras event and the city centre parade back in 2026.
Jazz festival producer Fiona Alexander said: 'Like many others, we received less funding in year one of our multi-annual award from Creative Scotland.
'Coupled with the delayed decision, this meant we had to adapt our planning which included a fallow year for the Mardi Gras.
'The Mardi Gras and the Edinburgh Festival Carnival are both funded through our grants from Creative Scotland and the city council.
'The Mardi Gras attracted a total of 7500 people last year, with 30 musicians appearing across its three stages, including performances from the Jazz Rebels, Viper Swing, Cow Cow Boogie, Rigid Soul, DopeSickFly, and Carter & The Killer Horns.
'There will be three mini parades in West Princes Street Gardens this year, with music across three stages, including the Ross Bandstand.
'But we are looking at raising funds to cover the cost of hostile vehicle mitigation measured for 2026, so we can go back onto The Mound and Princes Street.
'We are 100 per cent committed to reinstating the Mardi Gras in 2026 when our grant monies increase.'
A spokeswoman for Creative Scotland said: "The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival is among 251 organisations to be awarded multi-year funding for the next three financial years.
"This consistent, year-on-year funding provides vital stability, enabling organisations like the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival to plan their programming with greater confidence.
"We're excited to support their work and look forward to fostering a closer partnership in the years ahead."
Despite the loss of the Mardi Gras event, the jazz festival has confirmed it will be staging concerts in St Andrew Square for the first time in nine years this summer, when the Famous Spiegeltent venue makes a comeback.
Special guests in the festival line-up including American stars Julian Lage, Anaïs Reno, Curtis Stigers and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, German drummer Gerwin Eisenhauer, Polish pianist Joanna Duda, and Scottish favourites corto.alto, Colin Steele and Paul Harrison.
Alan Morrison, Creative Scotland's head of music, said: 'The 2025 festival is the first to be supported through Creative Scotland's multi-year funding programme, which puts this essential event on a stable three-year footing at a time when Scotland's jazz sector is overflowing with talent and attracting attention from all over the world.'
Scottish culture secretary Angus Robertson said: 'The Scottish Government is proud to continue our support for the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.
'Receiving multi-year funding from Creative Scotland for the first time, thanks in part to a record increase in culture spending in the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, will ensure they have certainty and confidence to build on this year's programme and plan ambitiously for the years ahead.'