East Lothian events suffer £125,000 budget blow

FUNDING for festivals which attract thousands of visitors to East Lothian each year has been withdrawn as part of council cuts.
Picture shows rickshaw riders , Dave Tompkins and Chris Gibb , in front of the Spiegeltent at Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick. Pic: Phil WilkinsonPicture shows rickshaw riders , Dave Tompkins and Chris Gibb , in front of the Spiegeltent at Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick. Pic: Phil Wilkinson
Picture shows rickshaw riders , Dave Tompkins and Chris Gibb , in front of the Spiegeltent at Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick. Pic: Phil Wilkinson

The economic development budget for supporting tourism has been slashed by £125,000, with only £50,000 remaining to support the Scottish Open and Ladies Scottish Open golf tournaments.

East Lothian Council said that it would continue to support the golf events, which are both being held at The Renaissance Club at Archerfield this summer. However, it has not agreed how much funding will be given to each from the £50,000 set aside.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Other events which have seen substantial funding in the past will no longer receive any financial support.

Last year, events funded included Fringe By The Sea, the Lammermuir Festival, Ironman and the European Stone Stacking Championships.

In November, Ironman organisers announced a decision not to return to East Lothian in 2019, although they did not mention the withdrawal of funds as the reason for their decision.

Fringe By The Sea organisers were said to have written to councillors ahead of the budget setting meeting, which was held earlier this month, to express their concerns for its future if funding was withdrawn.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The North Berwick event, which is held in August, offers a wide range of performances from musicians, artists, authors and comedians.

It was the county’s most successful tourism event in 2016-17 when it received £37,000 funding from the council and brought an estimated £1.3 million into the economy with nearly 9,000 visitors.

The Lammermuir Festival, which is also held in late summer and sees concerts performed at churches and unusual venues across the county, received £27,000 from the council in 2016-17 and contributed an estimated £460,000 to the economy.

In a statement, the organisers of Fringe By The Sea said: “We are very understanding of the pressures upon council budgets and, while we are disappointed that funding from Economic Development won’t be forthcoming, this year’s event will still be going ahead as planned.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We have already made our first reveal of acts and more will follow at the end of this month.”

The European Stone Stacking contest is also going ahead after it received a £5,000 donation from a “private individual”.

The Lammermuir Festival is advertising its 2019 event online, although details are not expected to be revealed until May.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “We will continue to actively support the establishment of and promote events in East Lothian through a number of means including digital marketing and social media promotion.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Although we can no longer provide the small grants we have offered in previous years, we are actively signposting events to other funding streams and encouraging commercialisation and sponsorship.”

It is estimated that one in ten jobs in East Lothian relate directly to tourism.