Edinburgh Festival is the worlds largest celebration of arts and culture. It was in 1947
this festival came to life as a result of Sir Rudolph Bing, and ever since it is becoming
increasingly popular by the year. After the second world war, the first Festival in
Edinburgh was seen as an attempt to bring individuals together (The Conversation,
2017). Bing considered many cities to host the event, such as Oxford, however,
Edinburgh seemed to be most appropriate due to the limited impact on the city after the
war. 71 years later, the Edinburgh Festival is entertaining people with 55,000 different
performances of 3,548 different shows (Wikipedia, 2018). These shows are attracting
vast numbers of people, which, in turn, is boosting the economy within the different areas
of hospitality such as, hotel companies, transport services, retail sectors and food and
beverage companies. The festival is an annual event, which has had a huge impact on
both Edinburgh and Scotland, economically, environmentally, and culturally. As the
number of tourists increase the impacts become more significant, but are they having a
positive effect on the city, or a negative one?
According to BOP Consulting (2018), in 2015, the Edinburgh Festivals attracted an
audience of 4.5 million people. It is inevitable, with an audience number like this, the
festivals have had a huge impact on the economy in Edinburgh, but Scotland as well. As
a matter of fact, an astounding £280 million was generated for the economy in
Edinburgh, however £313 million was made for the economy in Scotland (BOP
Consulting, 2018), a 25% increase compared to that in 2010 (Express, 2016). Not only
have the festivals boosted the economy, they have provided 5,660 people with full-time
jobs in Edinburgh and over 6,000 in Scotland (Express, 2016). These jobs give
individuals the opportunity to form basic skills which could increase the likelihood of
being employed. Online accommodation companies, such as ‘Airbnb’ are seen to have a
significant impact on the cities economy, with guest hosts receiving approximately £15
million (Edinburgh News, 2018). More or less 120,000 people booked with the company
for the festival in 2018. Subsequently, due to these visitors, according to Edinburgh
News (2018) around £33 million in local shops and food businesses. However, the short
term lets which the company provides people, does tend to leave locals without housing
and deprives other accommodation services within the city (Edinburgh News, 2018). Not
only this, but due to the mass influx of individuals, small businesses tend to struggle.
With crowds of over 4.5 million, attempting to keep Edinburgh environmentally
sustainable isn’t easy. For example, Rob Edwards (2007) stated that, with the 1,900
shows occurring at The Fringe, tackling the challenge of reducing waste wasn’t easy. A
spokeswoman of the festival claimed that “We’re printing the programme on recycled
paper and also looking into the possibility of installing recycling bins”. What should be
realised is that this data was collected in 2007, and every year the audience numbers
increase and so therefore, issues with waste become a further problem. As this issue
grows year by year, those concerned have suggested that as these festivals have such a
negative impact on the environment they may have to be stopped (Rob Edwards, 2007).
On the other hand, Creative Carbon Scotland (2018), have the ambition that by 2050,
Scotland wish to reduce 80% of their carbon emissions. The Edinburgh Festivals are
playing their part in fulfilling this ambition by supporting organisations involved with
reducing the carbon footprint. To continue to lessen the environmental impact, The
Fringe has attempted to make the venues more environmentally friendly by investing
time to create reusable stages (The Edinburgh Festival, 2018), this way, less landfill will
be produced, decreasing the amount of waste which is polluting the atmosphere (Climate
Central, 2014).
The impact which the festival has on the social and cultural aspects on Edinburgh has
been quite vast. The Scotsman (2018) has claimed that the negativity the locals have
demonstrated towards the festival, is at an “all-time high”. How the public view the
festival has got significantly worse over the years, for example, a survey was carried out
on 5000 residents, and the city council found that 6% of these residents concluded that
the festivals make Edinburgh an unpleasant place to live. However, despite this statistic,
76% of the residents believe that the festivals have a positive impact on Edinburgh,
promoting the culture of the city. The festivals themselves have had a massive impact on
the Scottish culture by contributing £14.4m to the cultural sector. The festivals are now
known for creating a “halo effect” which has boosted Scotland’s reputation for their
cultural activity. This “halo effect” gives cultural organisations and audiences “pride and
confidence” (Arts Professional, 2018).
Within the socio-cultural factors of the Edinburgh Festival, there have been health
concerns, such as alcohol consumption. Police Scotland (2016) released a statement
claiming large numbers of visitors were spending a lot of their time in the local pubs and
clubs. Due to this, extra officers were requested to prevent any alcohol-related offences.
This is a major concern for the festival and the future of it, and so therefore a campaign
called “Think Twice” has been put into place. This essentially means that anyone
charged with an offence concerned with alcohol, will be barred from any licensed venues
within Edinburgh. Each year the festival is gaining more and more audience members,
according to The Stage (2018), there was a 5.25% rise in ticket sales in 2018 compared
to 2017. Therefore, as audience numbers grow, alcohol-related offences will increase
which could have a negative impact on the ongoing delivery of the Edinburgh Festival.
On the other hand, the diversity within the festival has been recognised. Many awards
have been given by the Fringe which promote diversity and inclusivity. For example, The
Asian Arts Award was established in 2014, and was awarded to those of Asian origin
whose performance consisted of an Asian theme (The Fringe, 2018). This element of
diversity, adds creativity to the festival, and as the festival grows over the years,
audience members benefit from being educated culturally along with embracing the
creativity those portray within their performances.
T Each year, technology becomes more and more sophisticated and this has had a huge
impact on the Edinburgh Festival and will continue to over the years. Screenmedia (no
date) explains the uses of the ‘Edinburgh Fringe App’, which is essentially a ticketing app
but with additional services to improve the experience of the festival. It was in 2010 when
this app was first released, however in 2016 vast improvements were made to the app to
make it more user friendly. For example, features now include search engines to help
discover what shows are on, when they take place and where they are shown. There’s
also a personal calendar feature to help organise one’s day out along with the option of
purchasing tickets within the app. In 2011, the ‘Edinburgh Fringe App’ was downloaded
over 45,000 times, (EdFringe, 2012) and as audience numbers increase over the years,
so does the number of downloads, overall this has a positive impact on the festival.
E In previous years, the Edinburgh Festival faced a financial crisis where £600,000 of
emergency funds may have been needed due to a breakdown with the computer system
in the box office (The Guardian, 2009). The Guardian (2009), also claims that the
Fringe’s acting director, Tim Hawkins admitted that he would need £300,000 or more to
recover costs from the box office crisis. Although, as technology progresses over the
years, ticket purchasing is more simple, and less pressure is put on the box office,
reducing the likelihood of another disaster. What made this need of money so much
more serious for the festival, was the Great Recession which took place during 2009
(Parliament, no date). RBS experienced a huge loss and was abandoned, leading chief
executive, Fred Goodwin to resign (The Guardian, 2009). This bail out affected,
shareholders, suppliers and jobs across the city (The Herald, 2018). However, today in
2018, RBS is now owned by tax-payers who produced “£45 million bail-out funding” (The
Herald, 2018), and the financial crisis isn’t so much of a crisis now. Ticket sales are
increasing year by year, and the festival is still boosting the Scottish economy.
E The environment today, is a universal concern, facing a major crisis involving climate
change, pollution and waste management. However, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Society are doing their part, and in 2018 they developed 8 commitments to create “A
Green Fringe” (Creative Carbon Scotland, 2018). The society has introduced campaigns
such as, swap shops and food banks, preventing more items going to landfill, and
helping the local community in general. Not only are there campaigns, but the festival
has produced shows which encourages individuals to look after the environment, for
example, ‘The Adventures of Sam Swallow’ and ‘The Garden of Delight’. As a result of
these performances and campaigns, the Fringe society hopes to improve the
sustainability of Edinburgh Festival year by year and the impact the festival has on the
environment.
The determination to create a sustainable environment remains, as waste found at the
festival is transformed into “refuse derived fuel” by the waste management company
Enva (The Scotsman, 2018). As an attempt to pursue this mission, 17 bins were
purchased and 40 members of staff have been brought in to control the cleanliness of
the city’s streets (The Scotsman, 2018). Essentially, any waste from the festival will be
converted into a renewable energy source.
P A political concern which is classified as “severe” is the threat of a terrorist attack.
According to Statewatch, (2018) in 2017, there were 5 attacks altogether, destroying 36
lives. With a terrorist threat so high, this caused concern for the huge numbers of people
attending the Edinburgh Festival, an ideal target for terrorists. Due to this risk, security
barriers were put into place, as an attempt to prevent any pedestrians from being driven
into (BBC News, 2017). By installing these barriers, this should should improve the
safety of the public and continue to reduce any risk of a potential attack in Edinburgh.
With a considerable number of performers at the Edinburgh Festival being international,
‘Brexit’, will inevitably have a terrible impact on the festival over the next few years. An
article written in The Scotsman (2018), by Brian Ferguson claims that Brexit will affect
the Edinburgh Festival in a “disastrous” way and could lead to a significant decrease in
the number of performers at the festival. Not only this, but Mr Linehan, the director of
Edinburgh Festival, explains that future planning of the festival is a “headache”, money is
needed, and if Brexit goes ahead, there could be a serious lack of money in the future
years (The Scotsman, 2018). Linehan claims that Edinburgh is highly reliant on finance
and culture, Brexit could simply destroy the heritage of the city.
L A law which has had an impact on the Edinburgh Festival is the smoking ban.
According to The Guardian (2006), the law very simply states that any evidence of one
smoking on stage is illegal, and may well result in a £50 fine for the smoker, and for the
venue manager the fine could be as much as £200. Many performers though, like Mel
Smith who played the role of Winston Churchill, believes its acceptable to smoke and
reacted very negatively to the ban. (The Guardian, 2006). Despite, creative alternatives
being offered, Smith rejected all and claimed that the ban would have “delighted the
wartime leaders arch-enemy Adolf Hitler” (Evening Standard, 2006). This complaint
aside, the smoking ban has had a positive impact in Edinburgh over the 10 years since
the ban was put into place. BBC News (2016) released an article stating that if the ban
wasn’t put into place, then at least half a tonne of the “toxic material” would have been
inhaled. The millions of people who attend the Edinburgh Festival every year, are
benefitting from this ban. Not only the visitors, but the workers who would have been
typically surrounded by smoke will now be working in an improved air quality.
E Human rights have become a huge topic of thought in today’s society, such as,
freedom of thought, expression and the rights workers have (Youth for Human Rights,
2018). Behind the 5,660 jobs (Express,2016) at the festival, how the workers are being
treated at the has become a particular concern, with one individual working a 12-hour
shift, but being paid for 8 hours (Vice, 2017). The hours these workers are on shift for is
unrealistic, especially at a wage of £4.30 an hour, according to Vice (2017). Due to these
unethical actions, Mike Williamson and his campaign ‘Fair Fringe campaign’ (Vice, 2017)
is attempting to develop solutions to these issues after 300 individuals signed a petition
to improve the working conditions and employment rates (The Herald, 2017). If these
working conditions improve, more people will want to offer their services at the festival,
and help create a smoother running festival over the next few years and beyond.
However, despite the unacceptable work conditions, the festival has produced an award
which promotes the human right, freedom of expression. This prize is awarded to the act
who goes about bringing attention to the many human rights and raising awareness over
something so important (Amnesty International UK, 2018). This promotion of human
rights is hugely important for the festival, as it reminds and encourages people to treat
everyone as the same, making the overall atmosphere more civilized.