In a valedictory interview given to The Guardian and published under the title “Give Edinburgh fringe the same status as Olympics, departing head urges”, Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society Chief Executive Shona McCarthy speaks passionately about an event that has dominated her life almost a decade.
You can very literally categorise the McCarthy era as that of boom and bust. After she took over in 2016, there were years of plenty as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe grew from strength to strength, expanding visitor numbers and income to the point where some commentators were beginning to wonder whether it was actually becoming too large.
That all stopped with a vengeance on the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. 2020’s Fringe disappeared without trace, while 2021 was a financial disaster leading to desperate cries for substantial donations to shore up finances. Pleasingly, in the last couple of years, things have begun to get back on track, meaning that the doughty Ms McCarthy can depart for pastures new with head held high.
She has now told The Guardian that “the Edinburgh Festival fringe should be given the same status as major sporting events like the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games”.
It is hard to know whether this parting salvo is naïve, provocative or both. In order to achieve the goal, she presumably believes that either Edinburgh City Council, the Scottish government or the UK equivalent should fund the creation of dedicated [athletes’] villages and extra transportation, with those responsible guaranteeing working Wi-Fi.
Taking these in reverse order, it does seem strange, in this day and age that, despite all of the hills, Edinburgh is not blessed with 100% Wi-Fi coverage. Such provision would seem to be a necessity for a capital city with commercial and tourist interests, ignoring its three-week series of festivities in August.
Extra transportation sounds like a great idea, but quite where it is supposed to come from is unclear. Is the city supposed to purchase additional trams to be used for little more than 5% of the year or borrow buses from the rest of Scotland or the UK, which might be a little more feasible?
Any avid Fringe-goer will have learned long ago that the limiting factor on road transport is not the transport but the roads. If you pack more buses on to Princes Street and feeders like Leith Walk, the Bridges and Lothian Road, the tailbacks will just get longer.
Given the accommodation problems in recent times, partly created as a result of a very reasonable desire by Edinburgh City Council to ensure that those living in the area permanently have somewhere to live, the request for a dedicated village would undoubtedly be very desirable.
However, this would also inevitably require very significant amounts of funding, at a time when all governments are struggling—and that was before the sudden need to ramp up defence spending to levels unprecedented in peacetime. In addition, locals will have a better idea, but finding a location for several thousand additional rooms when the Festival and Fringe seem to take up any available space might also be a challenge.
The difference between the Olympics and the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe should be pretty obvious. The global sporting event only takes place once every four years and must bring in literally billions in global TV revenues. With this kind of money available, it is possible to support the athletes like minor royalty.
The Commonwealth Games might provide a closer parallel, although once again TV revenues will be significant. It may have passed Ms McCarthy by, but those games may not exist in the very near future, since venues cannot afford to host them. Most recently, Australia’s state of Victoria withdrew from its 2026 commitments due to escalating cost projections. Glasgow has stepped in, but only on a scaled-back basis and with financial guarantees.
Ms McCarthy additionally suggested that it would be helpful if rail companies could put on later trains and allow ticket booths on stations. Once again, this makes perfect sense to the Fringe but may not be commercially viable for the rail companies.
The Scottish government is doing its best to support culture, and its best current looks significantly more generous than anything offered by Rachel Reeves or Lisa Nandy south of the border, although they have recently committed £270 million for capital investment in the cultural sector. In addition, we recently reported news that there will be a hypothecation of funds from the tourist tax directly to the festivals.
At present, the Fringe needs to continue its slow but sure recovery from the disasters of recent years, achieving stability and growth, while working hand-in-hand with local funding bodies to ensure a stable future. Even achieving this will be quite a challenge for Ms McCarthy’s successor.