Last weekend, Nicola Benedetti, the first Scottish and first female director of the Edinburgh International Festival, gave an interview to The Guardian. In it she expressed fear that the creative arts were at risk of stagnating due to repeated funding cuts that have left EIF with 26% less spending power.
Ms Benedetti’s appointment three years ago came as something of a surprise, given that she had never worked in arts administration and had no obvious relevant experience. In addition, as an award-winning classical violinist, there must have been questions about whether she could find the requisite time to run a major arts festival without damaging her primary career and depriving audiences of the pleasure of her unique talent.
Without being a fly on the office wall, it is impossible to know the degree to which she gets involved in day-to-day administration but, having a high profile in the arts world is certainly of major benefit, as this interview demonstrates.
Combined with the pandemic, which led to a complete cancellation in 2020 and a pretty financially disastrous limited return in 2021, times were tough. It hasn’t helped that combined losses over the last two years total around £4 million. Even so, some elsewhere might view these concerns with a degree of irony, since arts funding in Scotland appears to be on a sounder footing than that in the rest of the United Kingdom. In some ways, her opening sally could echo recent doom-laden pronouncements from our (relatively) new Prime Minister.
Even though the Scottish government has announced increases to arts funding going forwards, these have come too late to protect EIF 2025. As a result, the painful decision has been taken to forsake the traditional, explosive opening ceremony or gala.
In addition, the Festival is going to be somewhat smaller than in recent years, although the hope is that this situation can be reversed in the future, once an extra £4 million of funding for festivals announced by the Scottish government has come on stream.
In particular, Ms Benedetti is already talking very positively with regard to the Festival’s 80th anniversary in 2027. Before that, there will be a greater concentration on local talent in 2025, which should please many in the community and may also be a necessity due to financial constraints.
The problems that EIF faces reflect those more widely in Scotland where, as she says, “the wider funding crisis was deeply damaging. It chipped away at artistic and human potential, and that harmed the sector as a whole”, and even the extra funding has not allayed all of those fears.
Anyone who has ever attended the Edinburgh International Festival knows that it is a unique and very special event that should be given every opportunity to thrive. Not only does it benefit the Scottish economy and arts sector, but it also enhances the UK’s “soft power” around the world.
Therefore, the extra funding from the Scottish government will be very welcome. It should be able to afford it, as plans for a 5% plus VAT tourist tax were set to be approved this week, with implementation in time for next year’s festival season. It is about time that their counterparts in Westminster saw fit to follow suit on additional funding, even if they don’t fancy taxing tourists—though why not?