Should Edinburgh Castle have its own permanent amphitheatre?

There are some ideas about Edinburgh that make you stop and look at the city differently. Recently, I came across suggestions online from Kal Turnbull that Edinburgh Castle could invest in permanent stone seating around the Esplanade, creating a permanent amphitheatre in place of the temporary structures that appear every summer.

My first reaction was one of curiosity. The Edinburgh Castle Esplanade has become synonymous with the Tattoo. Every August, thousands of people gather beneath the Castle walls for one of the world’s great spectacles.

The temporary stands are an extraordinary feat in themselves, erected and dismantled every year to accommodate the show and other performances. The Tattoo alone welcomes around 220,000 people annually, supporting a huge ecosystem of performers, staff, contractors and businesses.

So I can understand the attraction of asking whether we should build something permanent. A purpose-built amphitheatre could potentially make the venue safer, more accessible and more comfortable, while creating opportunities for concerts, theatre and other events throughout the year. It could also mean skilled construction, maintenance, hospitality and cultural jobs, while strengthening Edinburgh’s reputation as a city of festivals.

But there is another side to this question. Edinburgh Castle is not simply an events venue. It is one of the most recognisable historic buildings in Scotland, sitting at the heart of the city’s World Heritage Site.

Changing the Esplanade permanently would inevitably change how the Castle looks and how we experience it. What might feel like a practical improvement from inside the Castle could look very different from Princes Street, Arthur’s Seat or across the city skyline.

There is also the question of cost. A permanent stone structure would be a major investment, and we should be asking who pays, what else that money could achieve, and whether the benefits would justify permanently altering such an important historic place.

There isn’t an easy answer, but perhaps that is exactly why this is worth discussing. Edinburgh has always evolved while carrying its history with it. The question is whether a permanent amphitheatre could become another chapter in that story, or whether the temporary transformation we see each summer is part of what makes the Castle so special.

Sometimes, protecting a city’s character means knowing when to build for the future, and when to leave something as it is.