Thundering Hooves confirms Edinburgh's Excellence

Tue 30 May 2006

Edinburgh has been confirmed as the jewel in the crown of international festival cities, according to new research, titled Thundering Hooves, published today.

Edinburgh’s unique complement of Festivals offers a cultural menu unmatched anywhere in the word. The city’s ‘enviable’ architecture and location, together with the large and discerning audiences attracted to its Festivals make Edinburgh’s atmosphere unique and difficult to recreate elsewhere.

As it enters its diamond (60) anniversary as a festival city, Edinburgh’s eleven Festivals, which contribute over £184 million to the Scottish economy, are confirmed as having all the right characteristics to continue leading the world.

The report, produced by international consultants AEA, compared Edinburgh’s success against over 20 festivals worldwide, including Singapore, Barcelona, Melbourne, Avignon, Manchester, Montreal and Liverpool. The consultants confirmed Edinburgh’s pre-eminence, but warns that ‘resting on its laurels’ will leave the city’s Festivals vulnerable.

The report highlights the proliferation of festivals worldwide, and the greatly increased competition for talent, funds and audiences. The researchers acknowledged that Edinburgh, unlike other cities, has a culture of co-operation between festivals and local or national agencies a point reinforced by the unprecedented collaboration during the development of Thundering Hooves.

The report recommends planning a long-term strategy to maintain Edinburgh’s position as ‘the’ festival destination.

Thundering Hooves has 14 recommendations, amongst which are:

Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson said:

“Every summer Edinburgh becomes the cultural capital of the world attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists from every corner of the globe. It is a status the city has enjoyed for more than 50 years but envious rivals are now seeking to emulate and even surpass Edinburgh’s pre-eminent role.

“We know we cannot be complacent and should take note of the recommendation in this report for improved co-operation between all the Festivals, the City Council and other agencies.

“I am pleased that the Scottish Arts Council has agreed to take the lead and co-ordinate improved partnerships between all the key players. By working together we can build on this success to enhance Edinburgh reputation as the world’s greatest festival city.”

Ricky Henderson, Executive Member for Sport, Culture and Tourism, City of Edinburgh Council welcomed the report, adding:

‘Thundering Hooves has shown clearly the demonstrable impact the festivals have on Edinburgh, the Lothians and Scotland, both culturally and economically. While the report notes Edinburgh is still the world-leader, it is vital that this position is retained, and by these actions taken and forecast today by the Council, we hope to contribute greatly to this outcome. We know all commissioning parties to the report acknowledge the importance of working together in cementing our reputation into the future.’

A spokesperson for Festivals Edinburgh said: ‘We wholeheartedly applaud this initiative, which has brought together all of the key stakeholders in Scotland to protect and enhance one of Scotland’s greatest cultural assets. This is an historic report, which analyses for the first time the factors which will be essential to maintaining the Festivals’ success over the next 20 years. It is clear that in the face of increasing competition a co-ordinated strategy is a necessary to keep Edinburgh as the world’s pre-eminent Festival City. We look forward to working with all of our stakeholders to ensure that our individual and collective strengths are supported and developed.’

Graham Berry, Chief Executive of the Scottish Arts Council also welcomed the report and added: ‘‘I’m delighted that Thundering Hooves confirms the pre-eminence of Edinburgh’s arts festivals and that the city remains a magnet for artists and audiences. Our role is to ensure Scotland continues to present arts of the highest quality to audiences who know that ‘only in Edinburgh’ will they experience the most distinctive international work.’

Stephen Gallagher, Director of Global Connections for Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, said: 'Collectively, Edinburgh's festivals help to boost the region's tourism sector, enhance the capital's image as a great place to live, visit and work and generate £184million for the local and national economy. We welcome today's report and we are looking forward to working with the festivals and our public sector partners to identify how we can work together to achieve our shared ambition for the festivals and ensure that Edinburgh maintains its pre-eminent position as the world's leading festival city.'

Notes to editors

ends

Search For Event