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The Herald Scotland
6 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
So the Edinburgh Festival's future is under threat. Really?
Money is usually at the heart of it, in two areas specifically. First, funding and support for the arts at governmental and council level. Second the costs associated with coming to Edinburgh in August either as performer or punter. The major complaint on that front is the soaring price of accommodation, the result in part of an ugly tendency among private landlords in the capital for (let's call it what it is) naked profiteering. The pernicious effect of American online rental behemoth Airbnb and other companies like it doesn't help either. In Edinburgh, their presence has helped industrialize the hollowing out of the city centre, a process which has paved the way for sky-high August prices. At the same time, the council now requires those who may only let out a room or sub-let while on holiday to apply for a licence (and possibly also planning permission). This has taken some accommodation out of the market, which affects supply. Airbnb says it hasn't prevented rising costs, nevertheless the company is among those lobbying hard for its repeal. There may be a shortage of money for the Arts but there is always plenty of 'street theatre' (Image: free) Meanwhile a year-round 5% visitor levy, or tourist tax, is due to be introduced in time for the 2026 Edinburgh Festival, though it remains to be seen how much (if any) of the mooted £50 million windfall will be sent in the direction of the August festivals, or used to address their various infrastructure needs. The most vocal complainant and advocate for change and improvement tends to be the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, which runs the Fringe, the biggest player in Edinburgh's portfolio of summer festivals. In April newly-appointed chief executive Tony Lankester told The Herald: 'When discussions are happening on the visitor levy, the Fringe's voice is really important. We are not looking to the visitor levy as a way of feathering our nest or benefiting hugely financially from it. We might make an ask for certain projects, such as around our street events, but by and large our seat at the table will be to lobby for investment in the kind.' Ahead of the launch of the 2025 Fringe programme, others have voiced similar concerns about the pressures facing the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe in particular – and in more strident terms. 'We have to do something to bring the cost of accommodation down,' says Anthony Alderson, director of the Pleasance Theatre Trust. 'By having made it so expensive to be here during August, for visitors and performers alike, we are slowly killing the Fringe.' On the other hand, the Fringe has now moved into a new home, something it has long campaigned for. It has seen its funding boosted. And earlier this month it announced that this year's event was on track to be the third largest in history. Meanwhile the Edinburgh International Book Festival is settling into its new home in the über-swanky Futures Institute, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival goes from strength to strength (though admittedly it started from a pretty low base). So are things as black as they are painted? Yes and no, which is another Edinburgh Festival tradition – everything's terrible until August rolls around, at which point everything's brilliant. Read more Birthday presence Everywhere you turn these days somebody, somewhere is celebrating the anniversary of something or other. Big or small, niche or mainstream, well-planned or half-arsed, it's coming at you. Last year we had Edinburgh 900, a rather lacklustre effort to commemorate 900 years since King David I created the royal burgh in which the capital sits. In January, Glasgow 850 launched, a rather more muscular and imaginative affair aimed at celebrating 850 years of the Dear Green Place. One of its key events, the three-day music festival Clyde Chorus, kicks off on Thursday. Back in the capital, 2026 will see the 200th anniversary of the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), which is both building and organisation. It's also, some might argue, something close to a state of mind for its members, the Academicians. The Royal Scottish Academy will be 200 years old next year (Image: Gordon Terris) As befits an august institution which continues to move with the times, the anniversary celebrations unveiled this week are ambitious and, importantly, take the RSA out of its gilded stone palace on the Mound and into venues across Scotland, such as Shetland, Skye, Aberdeen and Berwick-upon-Tweed – a cheeky act of cultural colonisation given that it's actually in England. But if none of that grabs you, I'm sure there will be another anniversary along behind it. Orkney's St Magnus Festival turns 50 next year and Glasgow's Kelvin Hall notches up its centenary in 2027. You can bet that somebody, somewhere already has a spreadsheet open – or a pencil over the back of a fag packet. Read more And finally The Herald's dance critic Mary Brennan continues her trawl through the best of the Dance International Glasgow mini-festival at Tramway with reviews of The Violet Hour, and Dance Is Not For Us and Bottoms, a double bill. The first is a new work by Scottish dancer and choreographer Colette Sadler, a multi-media piece built around three dancers and nodding to Greek myth. Dance Is Not For Us is solo show by Lebanese dancer Omar Rajeh while Bottoms, by migrant and disabled-led performance company Two Destination Language, brings five dancers to the stage – and a little mooning, which is what gives the piece its title. Elsewhere theatre critic Neil Cooper was at the King's Theatre in Glasgow for a touring production of satirical musical The Book Of Mormon and at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh for something completely different – Sylvia Dow's Blinded By The Light, which tells (and reflects upon) the story of the 1982 sit-in at Kinneil Colliery in Bo'ness. Finally music critic Keith Bruce was at St John's Kirk in Perth for a Perth Festival of the Arts performance by the 18-strong Ora Singers of unaccompanied vocals works ranging from Renaissance polyphony to Sir James MacMillan's Misere. Read our reviews
The Herald Scotland
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
The crisis 'slowing killing' the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
They have spoken out ahead of the launch of the official programme for the 2025 Fringe, which is expected to be boast one of the biggest line-ups of shows in the event's 78-year history. Read more: Leading figures have lifted the lid on the impact of soaring accommodation bills, infrastructure costs and city council permits on the festival, which has been valued at more than £200 million for Edinburgh's economy. There is also widespread anger over the prospect of concerts at Murrayfield Stadium, where Oasis and AC/DC are due to appear in August, clashing with the Fringe for the first time, while new city council restrictions on the short-term letting of properties are also said to have contributed to the costs crisis. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been running since 1947. (Image: Simfo) One venue operator warned the Fringe was walking a 'precarious tightrope' that was becoming more dangerous every year. The Herald has been told growing incentives are having to be offered to artists and companies to persuade them to take part in the Fringe, with many performers are said to be opting for shorter runs for their shows to try to keep their costs down. The Pleasance Courtyard is one of the most popular venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Supplied The new chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Tony Lankester, warned last month that the success of the event was being 'taken for granted.' Anthony Alderson, director of the Pleasance Theatre Trust, which has been running Fringe venues for more than 40 years, said: 'The risks and individual losses are now too great for artists and venues alike. The Fringe is walking a precarious tightrope that becomes more vulnerable year on year. We have to take action rather than putting our heads in the sand. 'The current model is a shared problem that we can only solve collectively with businesses and home-owners in the city. We have to do something to bring the cost of accommodation down. 'By having made it so expensive to be here during August, for visitors and performers alike, we are slowly killing the Fringe. 'The Fringe is walking a precarious tightrope that becomes more vulnerable year on year. We have to take action rather than putting our heads in the sand.' Producer James Seabright said: 'It is clear that many challenges face everyone involved in the world's biggest arts festival. 'All the city's summer festivals will wither on the vine if the city prices out visitors who normally travel to attend the Fringe.' Katy Koren, Gilded Balloon's artistic director said: 'The financial model of the Fringe isn't broken, but it is at risk of collapse. 'It has become a lot harder to persuade artists to come to the Fringe. Its value to artists is massively in doubt now and is more in doubt every year.' Producer Richard Jordan said: "I do think that 2025 could finally be the straw that breaks the camel's back."
