Festivals urge council to treat events as city infrastructure
Senior representatives of Edinburgh’s festivals have told councillors the new five per cent visitor levy is imposing a fresh financial burden on the city’s cultural sector and will cost events more than £1.1 million a year when organisers, venues and artists are included.
In a deputation submitted to the council’s Culture Committee ahead of its meeting on Thursday, the festivals called for a “proportionate share” of levy income to be reinvested in the events themselves and the wider cultural infrastructure that underpins Edinburgh’s visitor economy. They warned that without further investment the festivals’ “reach and impact” would be greatly reduced.
“Their contribution should be assessed not simply through cultural grant outputs, but through their wider economic, social, cultural, civic and international value to Edinburgh.”
The document lodged with committee papers says the levy creates a new and increased administrative cost — quantified by festivals as about £150,000 a year — while additional charges for promoters, venues and artists, particularly at the Fringe, push the total impact above £1.1m.
Direct costs to major organisations detailed
Chief executives and directors from a number of major festival organisations and venue groups have already spoken publicly about the immediate effect of the levy. In written submissions included in the council papers the Edinburgh International Festival’s director was reported to have said the levy will cost the EIF an extra £50,000 a year. Assembly, the venue group, reported paying out about £60,000 in levy charges this summer.
| Recipient | Reported additional annual cost |
|---|---|
| Edinburgh International Festival | £50,000 |
| Assembly (venue group) | £60,000 |
| Festivals sector (administration) | £150,000 |
Those figures form part of the festivals’ wider assessment of the levy’s effect on the entire cultural ecosystem in Edinburgh, from promoters and venues to freelance artists and the civic benefits the festivals secure for the city’s international profile.
Calls for a longer-term funding approach
The deputation asks the council to recognise the festivals as strategic city infrastructure, and to adopt a longer-term approach to investment rather than assessing contributions solely through the usual cultural grant frameworks.
- Festivals warn of reduced reach and impact without reinvestment.
- They say the levy creates immediate administrative and operational costs exceeding £1.1m annually.
- Levy contributions from major festivals and venues have been quantified in the council papers.
Festival leaders argue the risk is not the sudden disappearance of events but the gradual erosion of their capacity to deliver the social, economic and cultural benefits the city relies on each summer.
Council members on the Culture Committee will consider how levy income is allocated and whether a larger slice should be returned to support festivals and the physical and organisational networks that sustain them. The committee’s decisions will have implications for budget planning by festival organisations ahead of next year’s programmes and for the local businesses that benefit from festival audiences.
For Edinburgh, where the summer festivals form a central plank of the city’s cultural identity and visitor economy, the debate is also about how to balance immediate fiscal demands with preserving long-term cultural capital that attracts visitors, talent and international attention.
Committee deliberations this week will be watched closely by artists, venue operators and the wider cultural sector, all seeking clarity on how the new levy will be shared and whether the council will adopt a sustained funding strategy to protect the festivals’ future.
