Scotland

Performers at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe claim posters advertising their shows are being censored or defaced as the rules surrounding promotional materials are more strictly enforced.

The Guardian reports that Out of Hand, the printers who produce the posters for shows at the fringe, are required to check all promotional images with Edinburgh city council before proceeding to print. 

Obscenity has always been banned, but this year’s performers say that attitudes to nudity, swearing and sexual content have become stricter. According to Out of Hand’s Commercial Director Nigel Muntz the rules have not changed, but are being “enforced with more rigour”.

Posters that have fallen prey to censorship include images of a line of bare buttocks and a large pair of breasts. A children’s drag performer and an American actress whose show title included a swear word have also had their promotional materials altered.

Producer Richard Lambert, who was asked to pixilate the five pairs of bare buttocks on one of his posters, said that the matter was resolved “amicably but after a minor battle”. He said that similar posters had been approved in previous years.

“We’re sanitising arts and culture,” he said.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is set to present the second-biggest programme in its history after an influx of last-minute additions.

Despite fears that performers would be “priced out” by the high cost of accommodation in the Scottish city, the festival, which begins on Friday (4 August) is set to feature more than 3,600 shows, the second-largest number in its 76-year history.

More than 600 productions and 28 new venues have been added to the official programme since its initial publication in June.

Concerns around accommodation were raised in the run-up to the event after 87% of artists polled following last year’s festival said they felt that the affordability of accommodation and living costs in Edinburgh in August would be a barrier to future participation. 

But an increased amount of student housing made available for this year’s event, coupled with deals agreed with venue operators, is thought to have helped reign in prices, the Scotsman reported.

The flurry of late bookings is partially attributed to the return of the official Fringe app, which was not used at last year’s festival, creating less reliance on inclusion in this year’s printed programme.

The app, launched on July 11, has been downloaded more than 21,000 times.

“We always say that we don’t judge the success of the Fringe by the number of shows that are on,” said Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Fringe Society.

“For us, that’s more about people actually seeing and supporting work, audiences connecting with shows and artists having a positive experience in Edinburgh.”

Lyndsey Jackson, the society’s Deputy Chief Executive said that “signs are positive and ticket sales are going well”.

“They are definitely ahead of this time last year and people are seeing audiences from 2019. Venues are broadly indicating the same,” she said.

New galleries at the National Galleries of Scotland will open to the public from 30 September.

The 10 new galleries form part of a £38.6m extension, part-funded by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will double the physical display space.

More than 130 works of art from the nation’s historic Scottish art collection will be showcased in the new spaces.

Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said the project has “been driven by an ambition to transform the experience of visiting the National and to show the extraordinary collections of Scottish art with pride in beautiful, new, light-filled spaces”.

“We believe that we have created a National Gallery that is more open, engaging and inviting than ever before.”

Edinburgh’s festivals are ‘world leading cultural brands’ that contributed nearly £500m to the city’s economy in 2022, according to the Edinburgh Festivals Impact Study.

However, the report found most of the economic impact benefits hospitality and tourism rather than the cultural programmes themselves, which includes the Fringe, Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival.

It reveals the 11 annual festivals generated 3.2m attendances from 700,000 attendees across 2022, putting them on a par with the FIFA World Cup.

The festivals created 5850 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in Edinburgh, while the rest of Scotland also enjoyed an economic uplift, with an impact of £367m and support for 5000 FTE jobs.

The impact study surveyed more than 22,000 people for the report, conducted by BOP Consulting, and found 51% of festival-related spending in the city was on accommodation last year, while 25% was on food and drink.

While welcoming the “positive impact our festivals have on businesses, jobs and livelihoods”, Simon Gage, Festivals Edinburgh Chair, said: “In this instance our impact is primarily felt by the tourism and hospitality sectors, not by the festivals themselves and the people who make them happen”.

He added the “unique cultural programmes” of Edinburgh's festivals “are hanging each year by a precarious financial thread, damaged by Covid lockdowns and over 15 years of declining investment”.

Gage continued: “We call on all funders and supporters to come together to consider their long-term role in helping the Edinburgh Festivals remain Scotland’s world leading cultural brands and a crucial economic powerhouse for people’s jobs and livelihoods”.

Scottish Culture Secretary Angus Robertson added: “This report highlights the major impact of Scotland’s international festivals”.

“We recognise the impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis, and are currently reviewing the national events strategy with VisitScotland and the sector to ensure Scotland continues to be the perfect stage for events.”

The Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament is seeking the views of arts professionals on the impact of rising costs on the sector.

The call follows last year's pre-budget report for 2024-25 which said arts and culture organisations were facing a "perfect storm" of long-term budget pressures, reduced income generation and increased operating costs.  

The committee called on the Scottish Government's "refreshed" Culture Strategy Action Plan to provide a "clear and strategic sense" of how government plans to create a more sustainable future for arts and culture in Scotland.

Their report concluded that the current funding crisis "provides an opportunity to accelerate innovative solutions to the budgetary pressures within the sector". 

The committee is now inviting responses to what it sees as three key questions for Scotland's culture sector.

Firstly, how has the sector responded to the perfect storm outlined in the pre-budget report, and what is the impact of the 2023-24 Budget on the sector?

Secondly, what progress has been made in the last 12 months to accelerate innovate solutions and what could the Scottish Government implement to support the sector?

Finally, how can future budgetary decisions in the sector be informed by the Culture Strategy Action Plan?

The consultation is open for responses until 18 August 2023.