Soaring accommodation costs could price some out of Edinburgh International Book Festival

Jenny Niven said the price of housing for its 673 authors last year rose to £210,000 for the two week event, a cost which is split between the festival and the publishers representing the individual authors.

She said smaller publishers would soon be unable to afford to share the cost, which she said would hamper one of the festival's main aims - to showcase independent and up and coming talent.

This comes as Ms Niven revealed the festival has returned to a "happy" financial place as she unveiled a new corporate partnership with train company LNER, which is to sponsor the children's zone at this year's event, after losing sponsor Baillie Gifford two years ago. It has also found an additional source of income in hosting the BBC's festivals coverage for a week from its Spiegeltent, which Ms Niven said was also a “deferred benefit” in persuading authors to appear at the festival.

EIBF, along with Borders Book Festival and Hay Festival in Wales, ended their sponsorship with Edinburgh-based fund manager Baillie Gifford in 2024 after protests from campaign group Fossil Free Books. The festival’s chair at the time, Allan Little, said the organisation could not deliver a safe and sustainable festival with the constant threat of disruption from activists.

Ms Niven said she was “delighted” with the sponsorship deal with LNER, which will see the rail operator sponsor activities such as costumed characters and book trails in the festival’s Kids’ Zone, but admitted the tie-up did not directly replace the 20-year partnership it had had with Baillie Gifford. The Edinburgh-based fund manager is still a major sponsor of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF). She said she was also developing new relationships with philanthropists, as well as working with people who had supported the festival for decades.

She said: “It’s great, we’re delighted. We’re quite happy with our [funding] picture this year and we’re delighted to bring LNER in. But it’s never a like for like.

“The festival relies on a complex mix of public funding, the People’s Postcode Lottery are such a stalwart supporter and a good amount of philanthropy and individual charitable giving as well. It remains a complex picture, but we’re really delighted to bring in LNER, it’s a great fit for them to be in our kids’ area as well, because that idea of travelling in your imagination is just wonderful.”

However, she warned that rising costs, especially in housing authors in Edinburgh during the festivals season hampered the festival’s “ambitious” plans, while the City of Edinburgh Council’s visitor levy is due to add an extra five per cent to prices from this summer. Last year, it emerged the festival was to ask publishers to cover 50 per cent of accommodation costs for authors as prices became unaffordable.

She said: “Costs continue to rise. Our ambition is huge and we’re doing a fraction of what I would like us to be doing, so we continue to look at all of our different sources and opportunities and that includes looking at every strand of our income. But the backdrop of the rising costs is the biggest challenge.

“Last year our bill for accommodation was £210,000. We split it with the publishers, and we are asking publishers to pick up more of that cost. Obviously the tourist visitor levy whacks another five per cent onto the top of that, it’s another straightforward, five per cent increase on our costs.”

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She said the accommodation bill had gone up “dramatically” in recent years.

“It’s a massive cost,” she said. “It means we have to work really carefully. The risk is, if we’re splitting the cost with publishers, that is squeezes out some of the smaller, independent ones, or some of the international ones that find it really difficult to meet even a proportion of those costs. And because those elements are such a key part of what we’re trying to do with the festival, to bring that sort of writing to audiences and to really show that strength of independent publishing, it’s a massive burden.”

She said the festival is “increasingly relying on” international agencies and cultural institutes from other nations. This year, authors from Norway, Poland and Ireland are among those sponsored by their government or a national cultural institution akin to the British Council.

“This year we’re working with more than ever and they will often support the costs of their international writers who are coming,” she said, adding that the exact amount of support from countries varied.

Last year, US president Donald Trump criticised the “radical far left” grant given to the book festival for American author events by the US State Department, attacking the event for its promotion of discussion on “gender identity and racial equality” in 2023, under the Joe Biden administration.

Ms Niven pointed to figures released earlier this year as part of the National Year of Reading, which showed just three in ten Scottish schoolchildren say they enjoy reading. She said funding struggles meant the festival was not able to expand its programme for children as much as it would like to.

She said: “The research around this has highlighted an absolute crisis in children’s enjoyment and engagement with books and their functional literacy, is going through the floor. Year on year, the data has shown that fewer kids are reading for pleasure and it’s baffling because if you speak to our team, or people who read to their own kids, it’s never been a more exciting time for publishing for children and young people, the books are amazing. But with all the competition for young people’s attention, you’re seeing that drop off and those benefits of reading for children and young people are lost. So we’re making it our mission to be as committed as ever [to tackle that].

“We offer this really exciting opportunity for kids. We offer something special, we’re not school, we’re not home, so when we invite 5,000 kids from schools to be part of the festival, we want it to be fun and uplifting and amazing and if we can sneak in a few messages under there, great, by introducing children to the joy of books. There are still a number of children who don’t have access to books, so we are absolutely committed to making sure every child, if they come with their school, goes home from the festival with a free book.”

She added: “Often, people who come as adults to the book festival, have come themselves as children and now they’re bringing their own children. We’d like to expand what we’re doing there.”