Festival could be every four years – Helen Martin

Edinburgh needs to rethink its festivals with the coronavirus outbreak and the chance of a second wave in mind, writes Helen Martin

With this year’s street party cancelled, the city’s Hogmanay celebrations will be very different (Picture: Jane Barlow)

THE Hogmanay street party has been written off, with plans to provide alternative celebrations for Christmas and New Year spread around the city, which would still attract tourists, but might infect locals.

Of course, that may not happen at all if the prediction of a second virus wave over winter, with a peak in January, turns out to be the case.

Even worse is the risk of what is described as losing the “world’s festival city” crown, with the summer International Festival, the Tattoo and Fringe being in danger and possibly called off for the second year.

Vaccines may be available by then, but that’s only one of the many factors involved.

If the peak does occur in January, another lockdown would last for months and how would that affect struggling hospitality businesses around the city, arrival flights for tourists, venues, and the finances of performers, organisations, audiences and everyone else?

There’s a chance that the second wave won’t happen and, apart from financial pressures that already exist, a limited or restricted Festival and Fringe, perhaps with social-distancing and face coverings, could go ahead.

One problem either way is that organisation of the events for 2021 would have to start soon. And how can that take place if we don’t have any knowledge of what will happen over the next 12 months?

Across the world including the UK, economies have been hit, companies have folded, jobs have been lost, taxes are expected to rise, and in a nutshell, most people have less money.

All this has been extremely tough for Edinburgh where much of the economy and wealth was focused on tourism, which many people such as me would refer to as “over-tourism”.

Back at the end of April, I suggested in a column that the dependence on tourism and festivals had been successful for decades, but with global contagion, international tourism could be a dodgy policy for the city.

No-one would want tourism ruled out, but perhaps limited. And what we seriously needed was attempts at coming up with new plans for alternative city incomes – which wouldn’t be easy but might be necessary.

Instead, everything has been concentrated on restoring, and maintaining as much as possible, all these huge events that have had to be cancelled, as if there was a hope that life could hop back to “normal”.

There are other cities and areas around the world which thrive on tourism, though they don’t have international festivals and vast events that agonise their citizens, damage their land and dominate.

We have classic and historical architecture, a beach, museums, a castle, a palace and a royal park, a Parliament, theatres, high-rated restaurants and bars, local tours, and perhaps about 15,000 rooms for tourists. We have events such as the Royal Highland Show, football and rugby, loads of golf courses, lovely rural walks around the city and easy transport to places such as South Queensferry, East Lothian, Fife and St Andrews. All of these benefit local businesses.

We are building up our film industry, we have life sciences, renewable energy, universities. . . plans to build up more industries would be ideal.

Of course, everything is affected by coronavirus and some pandemic scientists feel more may follow in this modern world.

If the Festival, Fringe and Hogmanay are cancelled, it’s a major loss, so looking for other sources of income is smart. Perhaps holding these every two years, or perhaps every four like the Olympics would make them even more “special” to tourists and relieve locals.

It could also help avoid planning them every year, without even the certainty that they’ll happen.

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