Exclusive:Nicola Benedetti's warning over Edinburgh International Festival's future must be taken seriously
Edinburgh must never take its festivals for granted
Nicola Benedetti is a genuinely world-class musician, but that did not necessarily guarantee she would be a success as artistic director of the Edinburgh International Festival. However, since her appointment in 2022, she has demonstrated a tremendous flair for the job and earned the right to be taken seriously.
So when she warns about the effects of Edinburgh’s visitor levy, or ‘tourist tax’, on the event and complacency about the possibility that the city’s festivals could move elsewhere, it’s time for everyone involved to take notice – particularly after the Edinburgh TV Festival’s decision to move to Manchester next year.
That blow was bad enough. The idea that the International Festival or the Fringe might also be lost should be unthinkable.
However, Benedetti said: “I sometimes think that there is a sense of ‘the festivals are here; they're not going to go anywhere', rather than, ‘oh my goodness, this is something that we need to ensure we protect and strengthen and work with and utilise as a beacon of Scottish success that can do well for the entire country internationally.’” She stressed the festivals’ value “in terms of morale, tourism, general excitement, international prestige and, importantly, the impact on the economy of the city”.
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Very real economic and cultural benefits
The visitor levy, she said, was costing the International Festival more than £50,000 a year “and that needs to be addressed”. Given the tax is set to raise tens of millions of pounds a year, a request to help the festivals deal with these relatively small extra costs seems reasonable – particularly as they are the main reason why so many tourists flock to the city in August.
The case for the tax was born out of concerns about over-tourism and the feeling that visitors should make a greater contribution towards the running of the city. However, such sentiments need to be balanced against the very real economic and cultural benefits that tourism brings.
If Edinburgh becomes too expensive for too many people – whether festival performers, audience members or not – it risks pricing itself out of more markets than we might expect. Our festivals are precious, and we must never take them from granted.
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