Festival housing problems haven’t gone away - John McLellan

Bristo Square thronged with Fringe-goers on Saturday night, as it has been throughout this year’s Festival season.

Whether or not all those enjoying an al fresco refreshment actually made it to a show is another thing, but the bleak summer of 2020 is history and the buzz of Edinburgh in August was back.

Although Fringe ticket sales were still considerably short of 2019’s record three million, it’s still a tribute to the enduring appeal of Edinburgh’s festival that the Fringe audience has gone from nothing to 2.4 million in three years, with an increase of nearly a quarter of a million on last year.

The packed buses and teeming bars should dispel any notion that locals do not embrace what’s on offer, whether it’s Wagner’s Tannhauser at the Usher Hall of the Ladyboys of Bangkok across the road and everything in between.

But the issues which dogged the festivals and coloured views about the visitor economy have not gone away and have even been added to, with an aggressive approach to short-term lets ─ even with exemptions for festival time ─ and calls for bans on sponsorship from any company with even the tiniest connection to fossil fuels.

Maybe the hoo-ha over generous sponsorship by Edinburgh fund managers Baillie Gifford, even though 98 per cent of their investments don’t involve oil and gas, will die down, but accommodation cost and the clash with domestic demand will be as controversial as ever until a solution is found. And the only answer is building more.