New event to replace departing TV Festival with 'intentions and ideas' of original event

The "content-focused" event, created in partnership with Screen Scotland and the Fringe Society, will "bring together the city’s creative ecosystem with international media industries and audiences" and will pilot in August 2027 as part of the city's summer festival season.

The Edinburgh TV Festival announced in June it would leave Edinburgh for Greater Manchester from next year.

The Scotsman revealed plans to create a “significant event” to replace the festival earlier this month.

The new event will also include a new keynote debate to honour Lynda Myles, the co-creator of the Edinburgh TV Festival and former director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Myles said. “It’s exciting to see the importance of ideas and discussion being recognised in the plans for the new event, especially as this was the initial intention of the creation of the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1976.”

An independent consultant has now been appointed to lead the next stage of development, which will again be funded by Screen Scotland and delivered through The Fringe Society.

Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan told The Scotsman: “What we’re proposing to replace the TV Festival with would have to be very much connected to the other existing festivals, not just screen and Fringe, but screen and book and screen and film seem like a very natural combination.”

Screen Fringe, a festival concierge service and events programme for accredited delegates from TV and film, is expected to remain part of the August festivals offer to the global screen industry.

David Smith, director of Screen Scotland, said: “Edinburgh has a unique role to play in bringing together the people, ideas and creative work that will shape the future of the screen and wider creative industries. Every August, the city becomes a remarkable meeting place for talent from around the world, alongside audiences, producers, commissioners, artists and creative thinkers.

“We have an opportunity to build on that extraordinary concentration of talent and energy and create something new, ambitious and genuinely distinctive for the global industry.”

Tony Lankester, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: “Edinburgh’s August festivals create an unparalleled environment for discovering new talent, ideas and creative work. We know there is a strong appetite from people working across the global screen and creative industries to connect with that ecosystem, and we are excited by the opportunity to explore what a new offer could look like, particularly in a rapidly evolving media landscape.”

Speaking at the launch event for the new TV Festival, culture secretary Mairi McAllen said on learning of the TV Festival's departure in June:"I was told, 'don't worry minister, we're already on it.in 2026, we don't leave gaps, we find ways of moving on'."