Edinburgh risks killing 'golden goose' of festivals, warns Fringe Society boss

Chief executive Tony Lankester said Edinburgh City Council’s financial contribution to the entirety of the Fringe stands at £75,000, earmarked for street events, while no further funds have yet been made available from the new visitor levy. A proposed 5 per cent uplift for next year will add £3,750 to the current grant, taking it to to £78,750.

Writing in The Scotsman, Mr Lankester said the Adelaide Fringe, the second biggest Fringe festival in the world after Edinburgh, received five times as much support per ticket.

Read more: Tony Lankester - What it looks like when a city is serious about being a cultural capital

Last week, a crunch meeting that was set to discuss if the Fringe and other Edinburgh festivals would receive any more funding from the council’s visitor levy fund was postponed on a technicality.

"Ask any capital in the world what it would contribute to an event issuing 2.6 million tickets," Mr Lankester said. "The answer would not be £78,750.”

He added: "It is an investment to protect what the Fringe delivers for this city. The Fringe was born in Edinburgh and is proud to call it home. It would be good to know the feeling is mutual.”

He said the comparison with other cities “is stark”, pointing to Adelaide Fringe, which is inspired by Edinburgh and built on the same open-access model. Adelaide receives around double the size of grant - but only sells 42 per cent as many tickets as Edinburgh. He also pointed to Berlin, where the Berlinale received €2 million in state funding in a single budget cycle when authorities judged the festival “at structural risk”.

Mr Lankester said: “That is what it looks like when a city is serious about being a cultural capital, and serious about protecting the golden goose rather than putting it in jeopardy.”

Mr Lankester said the Fringe is worth around £500 million to Edinburgh’s economy, adding that of the 3.2 million tickets issued in Edinburgh in August, around 85 per cent are for the Fringe, and about a third of those are bought by people who live in the city.

The group of festivals, which also includes events such as the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), Edinburgh International Book Festival as well as the Fringe, said the new visitor levy, which puts a 5 per cent tax on any overnight stay in the city, would cost them more than £1.1 million a year.

He said: “There is ... a disconnect between what we do and the level of Edinburgh City Council support. The council’s total financial contribution to the entirety of the Fringe is £75,000, earmarked for street events. The Fringe Society and the many venues who operate in the city pay the Council significantly more than that back for permits and licences and, now, as a result of the Tourist Visitor Levy, an extra £6 million from artists, venues and audiences.

“£6m in, £75,000 back. Nothing to those who build and run the venues, nothing for the artists who give visitors a reason to be here.”

Mr Lankester acknowledged the disruption felt by some Edinburgh residents during August - but pointed to work carried out by the Fringe Society to allow people who would not otherwise have been able to attend shows to receive tickets.

He said: “We know that not every resident experiences August as a gift. For some it means crowded pavements, noise and a city that feels briefly borrowed by other people. It can feel intrusive and disruptive.”

He added: “We, together with the Fringe community, issued tens of thousands of tickets to people who could not otherwise have bought them. And then there’s the other point: people save for years and fly halfway round the world for something that, if you live here, is a bus ride away, waiting to be stepped into.”

In response, Edinburgh City Council’s culture and communities convener Margaret Graham said: “Our festivals and cultural organisations are a fundamental part of what makes Edinburgh such a popular and enjoyable destination, and they also make a notable contribution to the city’s communities and economy.

“Our cultural sector will be able to benefit from a range of new and expanded funding opportunities through the Visitor Levy, supporting more organisations and events while helping to protect and develop the diverse programme that Edinburgh is renowned for.

“We also recognise the significant pressures that many of these organisations are facing, and, having listened to feedback from our partners and fellow councillors, we will be discussing opportunities to provide more support to other projects and initiatives at a special committee meeting later this month.

“By directing this funding in the most effective way, we can support and uplift our existing strategic partners, who haven’t changed over the past ten years, while also ensuring that those not currently receiving support have a genuine opportunity to access funding. It is important our approach does not unintentionally exclude organisations and that funding is accessible to a diverse range of organisations and projects across the city.

“Altogether, the proposals will allow us to fund a range of exciting and innovative projects and support existing work that will create a stronger and more resilient cultural sector in the city.”