All eyes on Edinburgh?
It’s that time of year when the UK and international arts media turn their focus to the Scottish capital
Welcome to the fourth edition of my newsletter all about arts festivals. Thanks to my new subscribers for joining and let’s get ready for Edinburgh’s big month of festivals.
I’m currently wading through the what’s on pages of websites for the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival and of course Edinburgh Festival Fringe, planning what I’m going to see during my week’s visit in August. I’m also cross-referencing those sites with venue websites and the numerous lists of top picks from The Stage, The Guardian, The Scotsman, Playbill and more.[1] It’s exhausting and I could do with some time off just to plan my trip!
Apart from the first two years when I worked at Fringe venues – read my first newsletter for details of my inaugural ‘baptism of fire’ experience – I’ve made the annual pilgrimage up to Edinburgh most years since the early 1990s. I’m lucky in that one of my close friends lives in the city. So, I get to stay in a lovely apartment in the old town of Stockbridge and share the tiring but exhilarating experience of Edinburgh in August with a local.
Stockbridge, Edinburgh
In those early days, we’d rush from one show to the next, squeeze in meals and snacks at random times of day and night, enjoy a few cocktails and late-night clubbing, and still have time to take advantage of ad hoc opportunities to see a show recommended by a friend at the last minute. Sometimes I was there just as an ordinary punter, other times I was there representing whichever client I was working with at the time. The latter usually meant free access to official showcases and numerous shows, and of course parties. There’s a buzz from seeing a new show early on in its Edinburgh run that becomes the talk of the town, winning awards and five-star reviews. However, there’s also the disappointment of picking a show that’s frankly a dud or just meh.
Thirty years on it’s a much more sedate experience for me now – no running up the hill to get to the Pleasance just in time to see a show, no hanging out in the Assembly bar on George Street with colleagues, no searching for that obscure venue in Leith, and definitely no sitting too close to the front and unwittingly ending up being part of a show. I’m probably a little more risk averse now, partly due to the increased ticket prices, but mainly due to valuing my precious time and energy.
We’re already seeing the usual negative media stories at this time of year, primarily about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, lamenting that it’s broken or not what it used to be, how expensive it is for performers to take a show up there including some extreme examples of fundraising, struggling venues, and venues up for sale, controversies relating to certain shows and sponsors, potential city workers’ strikes, the list goes on. And conversely, there are equal numbers of positive stories stating that the Festival Fringe is set to be the biggest (since Covid), new awards, in fact, two new awards, the importance of venues for networking, new sponsors and partners, a new Fringe subscription scheme, new senior staff and other changing faces, artists and AI, and why the Fringe is brilliant, etc., etc.
Arriving or departing from Edinburgh Waverley station
According to an article in Arts Professional this week, a staggering ‘one in five plays at the Fringe will be focused on mental health, and almost as many on abuse and trauma.’ Health in Mind and the Edinburgh Fringe Society have partnered again to provide free one-to-one support and advice for artists performing at the Fringe through the online hub – Thriving at the Festivals.
My friend’s daughter is taking her first show up to the Fringe, along with a group of her friends, all recent graduates. I’m seeing the excitement and trepidation first hand. This is such a good reminder of how important this festival is for emerging writers and performers, especially those embarking on their career in what is such a difficult industry in which to secure a toehold, especially now. So, I must give a shout out to writer Sadie Pearson and Full Frontal Theatre. If you’re also currently planning your trip to Edinburgh next month, and you’ll be there in the first week of the Fringe, go see their show To Watch a Man Eat. I can personally recommend it having watched the show at Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Heading North Fringe Festival a few weeks ago.
I’m especially looking forward to hanging out at my former client Dance Base in the Grassmarket to see a few shows in the Dance Base Festival 2024 in partnership with Assembly and seeing the reboot of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
And a final plea to anyone going up to Edinburgh next month. Remember it’s not just about the Festival Fringe, there are also books to discover, films to watch, exhibitions to explore and world leading artists to experience, as well as the beautiful city itself. Make sure you support the wider arts and heritage sector, independent venues, shops, cafés, restaurants and bars, whenever possible.
Arthur’s Seat and Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh
UK Festivals News
Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA) has cancelled this year’s International Street Festival due to the loss of Arts Council England funding.
As another music festival closes, the Chief Executive of the Association of Independent Festivals discusses what’s gone wrong with the music festival model. Being a music festival organiser requires ‘an ironclad stomach for risk and stress.’
There are two new festivals in Manchester – SCENE celebrating LGBTQIA+ film and television to extend next month’s Manchester Pride festivities, and Build Manchester at Aviva Studios showcasing skateboarding with contests, exhibitions, film premieres, workshops, DJ sets and street food.
A £10,000 artist commission is available for a light artwork to show at two light festivals – RHS Glow at RHS Bridgewater and Lightwaves, Salford Quays. Closing date Thursday 8th August.
Without Walls is seeking new festival partners for their Artistic Directorate network to commission and present their programme from 2025 onwards. And there’s a profile of Director Ralph Kennedy here.
Here’s another interview - Cheltenham Festivals’ Co-Chief Executive Ian George - who I had the pleasure of working with whilst developing Cheltenham’s Cultural Strategy a few years ago.
Artist Rebecca Chesney challenges us to think about the environmental impact of music festivals with her installation at Harewood Biennial made with reclaimed fabric from tents salvaged from music festivals.
b-side festival in Dorset has a call out for team members.
Hull’s Freedom Festival is looking for new Friends of Freedom.
South Square Centre, Bradford Producing Hub and Bradford 2025 are looking for Steering Group Members for a new Visual Arts Festival to launch in autumn 2025, deadline Wednesday 31st July.
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
International Festivals News
The City of Toronto’s new Special Events Stabilization Initiative is providing up to $2m in financial relief to local special event organisers affected by rising costs.
Art and coastline are on display in this year’s La Triennale de Beaufort24 along Belgium’s Flemish coast exploring the theme of ‘The Fabric of Life’.
The Venice Biennale theatre department has announced its Artistic Director for 2025 and 2026 - American actor Willem Dafoe.
The 55th edition of the Arles Photography festival opened on 1 July.
Bangkok Art Biennale 2024 has announced its artist lineup.
Florida’s Fringe festivals are in uproar over funding cuts by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who claimed the ‘sexual’ nature of the festivals forced his hand. We know what that’s code for…
The European Commission has launched an online public consultation open to all stakeholders involved in the European Capital of Culture programme and the public to identify its impact over the last ten years and assess ways to improve the programme. Read my newsletter last month about my involvement in a symposium discussing the future of the European Capital of Culture brand.
And in other European Capital of Culture news, Liepāja 2027 in Latvia is looking for an International Project Coordinator.
The new director of Vienna’s Wiener Festwochen festival outlines his new constitution.
Le Bon Air (Good Air) eco-music festival in France cancelled the performance by DJ I Hate Models because the artist had planned to arrive by private jet.
New York's Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is getting a new permanent home.
This month’s wacky story comes from Japan – a Tokyo museum has launched a poo-themed summer festival.
Festival highlights for August
UK
Multi-artform festivals abound next month with Hull’s Freedom Festival, Serious Nonsense Festival inspired by Edward Lear in Prescot, Merseyside, NOVUM in Newcastle, Pittenweem Festival in Fife and Arundel Festival of the Arts in West Sussex.
Especially for families, there’s Just So Festival by Wild Rumpus in Cheshire, Little HOME in Manchester, Little Angel Theatre’s Children’s Puppet Festival in London, Kent’s international family arts festival, bOing! and Between the Tides in Redcar, Cleveland.
Fingers crossed for the weather as there are lots of outdoor festivals including Stockton International Riverside Festival, London’s leading festival of free outdoor theatre and performing arts – Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, Art in the Park in Leamington Spa, Rotherham’s Ferham Festival, Coventry’s Streets of Cov, The Big Feast in Stoke-on-Trent and Out of the Ordinary in Cambridge.
Two of the biggest carnivals in the UK take place in August - Leeds West Indian Carnival and Notting Hill Carnival in London.
For classical music head to Southwell Music Festival in Nottinghamshire, or Presteigne Festival in Radnershire, in the Welsh Marches.
Sheffield Film Festival launches at the city’s Showroom Workstation, HOME is one of a number of venues hosting Women over 50 Film Festival screenings and there’s the Big Picture Festival in Stratford.
And finally, Stourbridge’s International Festival of Glass will be the last one in its current form as the Glass Art Society take on the festival after this year’s event.
View of Edinburgh Castle on the way down to the Grassmarket
International
Plenty of film festivals in August, a selection includes Venice Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland and DokuFest in Kosova.
Music festivals range from the Nordic Song Festival in Sweden, to Off the Beaten Path Chamber Music Festival in Bulgaria and Sounds of Lousto, which takes place in outdoor and heritage locations in Finland.
You can experience theatre in all its forms at the Aurillac International Street Theatre Festival in rural France, Tampere Theatre Festival in Finland, Teatro in Quota in Italy, Valmiera Summer Theatre Festival in Latvia, and at Fringe festivals in Taipei, Taiwan and Tallinn in Estonia.
Explore art, ideas, sound and technology at Melbourne’s Now or Never festival, or for something more physical, try the International Contemporary Circus and Theatre Festival in Prague, Czechia.
The Hakaway International Festival for Children takes place across three Egyptian locations: Cairo, Port Said and Ismailia. There’s free dance in New York at the Battery Dance Festival and The Netherlands hosts the Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival in Groningen.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter and think anyone you know will be interested in joining the mailing list, please do nudge them to subscribe. I’d also love to hear your feedback.
See you next month for more festival news, stories, and insights.
All photos by me.
[1] Playbill has even set up a floating venue and hotel, the Playbill Fringeship docked at Leith.