Platform – Fringe benefits

The Thundering Hooves report (p1) has an interesting take on the role culture can play in branding a city. It is not just those who make an annual pilgrimage north to drink beer out of plastic glasses and watch comedians perform in cupboards who think of Edinburgh as a festival city. The summer arts festivals, together with Hogmanay, have been good to Edinburgh and to Scotland for nearly sixty years and at a very good price too.
Recent calculations have indicated that Edinburghs festivals generate an estimated £184m in revenue for the Scottish economy. When this is added to the international media focus Edinburghs festivals attract, and the intangible collective sense of civic pride and achievement they engender, one can see why the politicians and city elders are nervous. The study warns that any fall from the festivals pre-eminent position would have immediate economic repercussions for Edinburgh, the Lothians and the whole of Scotland. Since so many of the other festivals in the UK and internationally receive considerable funding from their local and national governments it seems logical that the City Council and the Scottish Executive will need to stump up more cash if they want to keep the top spot.

The report recognises a trait it terms festivalisation as more and more cities are re-packaged as platforms for the creation and consumption of cultural experience. This has led to festivals competing for audiences, attention and artistic content. The notion of festivalisation is one David Lammy (p3) might appreciate. His call for those with their hands on the cultural levers to engage with the public is borne out in the spirit of festivals. With the potential to offer accessible and headline-grabbing activity alongside a more challenging programme of work, festivals are in a position to attract diverse audiences and offer an access point to the arts that building-based institutions often struggle to emulate. So while festivalisation might be a challenge for Edinburgh, for those in the arts and for the country as a whole, it must surely be a good thing.

Liz Hill and Brian Whitehead
Co-editors