Edinburgh festivals row flares over claims they are a threat to city's world heritage status - your views online

Festival furore

Edinburgh festivals row flares over claims they are a threat to city's world heritage status

Paul Carol Radtke

I remember Edinburgh in days of old – fantastic shops, brilliant pubs with tons of characters and stories and magical places to visit. Yes it’s had a hard time over the years with sadly junkies leaving dangerous spent needles in nooks and crannies and the total exploitation of the city through the world by the popularity of books and stories and film locations. But it’s still a wonderful magical city and if a short film was made to actually explain all the true history to today’s visitors, I’m sure they would see this beautiful capital in a new and fascinating light.

Lee Young

After reading about Liverpool, it looks like it’s either “stay old” or “change the lot”, so you keep it historical or you go for the skyscrapers etc.

Al Campbell

I've yet to meet a tourist who came to the city because of the UNESCO status. Would all the historic buildings crumble if we lost it, like Liverpool? What exactly would happen? All that would happen is the Cockburn Association would have to find another excuse for stopping anything in the city.

Simon Saorsa-Alba

Edinburgh has been a festival city for over half a century. The issue isn’t the festival, the issue is the group of charlatans who have been given free reign to do what they want. Compounded by the lousy local governance which allows them to go unchecked and facilitates their vandalism of the city. Remember the trees being felled in Princes Street Gardens and the space being crammed with the tacky Xmas market?

Nicholas Burns Cumming

Edinburgh has become a venue for cheap travel, stag and hen parties, drunken louts make the streets dangerous at night. For a capital city to resemble the trashiest tourist resorts is sad. It will soon lose its heritage status and no-one should be surprised.

Julie Starr

Why do we keep comparing ourselves with cities which hold populations of millions. Edinburgh has 482k people, New York has 8.4m, London has 9.4m…we are merely a village in comparison!

Patricia Anderson

Many jobs in Edinburgh rely on tourism especially at festival time.There is no threat to the world heritage status.This is just nonsense.

John Monaghan

Won’t have a problem soon, with the way the Scottish government and CEC have handled post- Covid, some won’t be back. No restrictions, now level zero minus 1 and restrictions inside and out. Well done for allowing these people to implement such nonsense. CEC have a lot to answer for. Edinburgh is also a hovel, a mess, falling apart, an eyesore.

Shirley Spear

Surely festivals are an integral part of that cultural heritage?

Rosalind Alexander

Allowing stalls among the graves at Lothian Road in the churchyard is a lack of respect and it's disgraceful.

Navid Saberi

The issue, as others have also alluded, to is not tourism but the City of Edinburgh Council.

Kristine Robinson

World Heritage is a joke – have they seen how awful the place looks with the bollards?

Aitor Gonzalo

Edinburgh council is also a threat to the city’s World Heritage status!

Peter Anderson

Edinburgh, the city that sold its soul.

James W Quinn

Most large cities Including New York depend on tourism and festivals, although they don't have moaning gits like Edinburgh does!

Tommy Moore

Temporary barriers, unsightly little bollards and hideous giant road blocks are contradictory to being a World Heritage site, as well as a danger in the event of any kind of 999 emergency. The whole new road culture with the forests of wee sticks and rubber stumps are the worst of all. The number of people is not the problem. It’s what has been done to the built environment that is the issue.

Covid Scotland

No guarantee winter lockdown can be avoided, says Health Secretary Humza Yousaf

Dave Moffat

For all his failings, in each government office he has held, it's great to see he's on the ball with this one.

Frances Mckendrick

So if there's more lockdowns, will there be support for working people as furlough is ending soon?

Emma Blackwood

I thought the whole purpose of the vaccine was to stop lockdowns.