Scotsman Bulletin Monday, August 28 2023
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Monday. I'm Alan Young, I'm Deputy
00:05 Editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined today by our Arts Correspondent Brian Ferguson who
00:11 has survived the festival. Well done Brian. Thank you Alan. Let's have a look at the front
00:18 page first. I will read today an exclusive from our Deputy Political Editor Connor Matchett
00:26 and it's the Economy Secretary Neil Gray's responding to growing calls really to delay
00:31 the regulation of short-term lets across Scotland. This is amid fears that many businesses, B&Bs,
00:40 Air B&Bs are just going to be forced out of business altogether. Mr Gray however says
00:46 there are no plans to delay the scheme at the moment. Pictured there I believe is Loch
00:55 Ness where the biggest hunt for Nessie is ongoing, the biggest hunt in 50 years. We
01:02 also have a comment piece there plugged on the front page from the Fringe Society Chief
01:07 Executive Sean McCarthy talking about this year's festival and what needs to happen to
01:14 secure the event into the future and that is what I want to speak to you about Brian
01:19 because you also have a really interesting story in today. Yeah, it's been a very different
01:26 Fringe this year to last year. Last year was really dominated, particularly the run up
01:32 by a lot of kind of either behind the scenes squabbling and quite a lot of public squabbling
01:36 between especially some of the venues and the Fringe Society. There was a lot of discontent
01:41 with how the Fringe Society was kind of going about things. There was no app last year.
01:48 I think the Fringe Society, there was a lot of concerns about lack of media coverage and
01:52 how the event was promoted, the fact the programme came out late and there was a lot of other
01:58 things happened last August which kind of compounded the problems for venues in terms
02:04 of selling tickets. Everyone will remember the rail strikes and the bin strikes that
02:10 affected things last year. So the mood music has been very different this year so far,
02:15 although there was quite a bit of discontent a few months ago when the Fringe Society did
02:22 extremely well to get a £7 million new investment from the UK government into the event but
02:29 that money was basically ring fenced by the UK government for a new project which will
02:36 basically see the Fringe Society move into a new year round headquarters which would
02:41 become a hub for performers during the festival itself basically. But the fact that that money
02:49 was ring fenced caused huge consternation among a lot of the, particularly the venues
02:56 because on the face of it they didn't really see how it was going to benefit the people
03:04 who put on shows basically. So one of the things, there's not really been a backdrop
03:10 of bickering this year as there was, especially during August as there was last year. Things
03:16 have been going, I think probably helped by the fact that ticket sales have been going
03:21 a bit better, there's been better weather, there's been no strikes this year thankfully
03:28 for the venues to grapple with and like I say, I think audiences have been going to,
03:35 people have been going to more shows as well, particularly local people. The pandemic has
03:41 not completely gone away obviously but has maybe been less of a factor for audiences
03:47 than last year. But interesting news over the weekend that there's been a new alliance
03:54 formed, a new Fringe Alliance. So there's been a fairly low key group of venues, quite
04:02 a large group have been meeting regularly in the last 15, 16 years. They have led the
04:08 formation of this new alliance but they're very keen to point out that it does involve,
04:13 or it's going to be open to production companies, freelancers, artists, any kind of company
04:23 that's got a stake in the festival, particularly as they say, people who are taking some kind
04:28 of financial risk to get involved in the festival, it's going to be open to them. But the really
04:34 important thing, it certainly jumped out as important to me, is that this new alliance
04:39 was saying that one of the key aims and objectives was to work with and support the Fringe Society
04:44 and I thought that was fairly significant because there's been maybe a sense that behind
04:51 the scenes there's been maybe an attempt to have a bit of a power grab that some of the
04:55 bigger venues were, and effectively a lot of the mood music was what is the point of
05:01 the Fringe Society, do we really need a Fringe Society in this day and age, can we not basically
05:07 run the whole show ourselves. Now depending on who you speak to, some people think that's
05:10 a great idea and other people who have great experience of the Fringe think that would
05:16 be the worst idea imaginable, not to have a Fringe Society and to have a neutral and
05:22 independent organisation, not only overseeing the event but also crucially dealing with
05:28 the council who are fundamental to the whole thing, the university and the Scottish government
05:35 obviously. So it was a fairly significant development over the weekend to see that announcement.
05:43 I think it looks like good news, I think, the more that people can work together behind
05:50 the scenes but also publicly to have a collective voice, particularly for artists and performers,
05:58 I think there's maybe been a feeling that they've maybe been a bit of a low priority
06:04 for venues as well, that the venues have to make it all stack up for themselves financially
06:12 but that artists and performers are right down the bottom of the food chain. There's
06:18 no shortage of performers and companies basically regularly complain about the costs of putting
06:25 on shows and the fact that they themselves have to take on a huge risk to come here.
06:30 Do you think this new group then is likely to have in its sights the cost of actually
06:38 staying in Edinburgh and the cost of putting on a show and is it likely to be able to find
06:44 a solution because that's been one of the big themes this year hasn't it?
06:50 Yeah it has and there are no easy options out there, I don't think. I increasingly think
06:56 that I think the two, maybe three things that I would suggest have to be prioritised in
07:04 no particular order are an improvement in public transport to get people in and out
07:09 of Edinburgh a bit easier, particularly late at night. The tram has been, now I do live
07:14 on the tram route in Leith but it has been a bit of a revelation this year. From Leith
07:19 to the city centre it's a ten minute journey, it was hugely reliable throughout the whole
07:23 festival, it was packed out every day and night when I was on it without being uncomfortable.
07:27 It was running every ten minutes, far quicker than the bus and it'll be really interesting
07:34 to see how that maybe changes the festival landscape in years to come because obviously
07:40 the vast majority of venues and shows and events are in the city centre but I do wonder
07:44 whether that will, how much that will change. I was out at the Connect festival yesterday
07:48 to have a look at that, I was out last year. The big difference again with just getting
07:52 home at the end of the night, it took less than an hour to get back from pretty much
07:57 out of the airport back down to Leith, seamless, low cost, it cost a fiver for the whole day
08:03 really to be out and about, at the fringe and then heading out there. I think student
08:09 accommodation is key, Edinburgh's got no shortage of student accommodation. A lot of
08:14 the venues were telling me this year, maybe it wasn't quite as bad as they feared in terms
08:20 of the accommodation situation but a lot of them really had to get in early with student
08:25 accommodation and book that basically for companies and performers. A lot of performers
08:31 they're not really looking for luxury accommodation or five star A, B and Bs, they can't afford
08:36 it anyway. People are really just looking for reasonable standard accommodation. Now
08:42 obviously it does vary in Edinburgh but I'm thinking if that can be joined up a bit more
08:49 and crucially if student accommodation providers and the universities especially, if everyone
08:57 can work together to make sure that that is affordable that really would make a difference.
09:04 The more difficult thing, but one I think that Edinburgh really needs to seriously look
09:08 at for the festival is just really trying to create viable and affordable low cost temporary
09:15 accommodation for the festival. Now that could be anything from pop up campsites, which when
09:23 festivals are on, something like Connect yesterday, they effectively have that in place for three
09:29 or four days and again the cost of that, they have an option really for people to take in
09:34 their own tents, they almost have more boutique options. But I can see a scenario where you
09:40 could have, say if Edinburgh had even just one year for a pilot to have one of these
09:45 things in a spot around Edinburgh to see how it goes and see what the demand is obviously.
09:51 I think there is obviously this historic mindset from a lot of performers and companies that
09:56 it's absolutely essential that we must be staying on in or around the Royal Mile. That
10:01 is just insane, the cost of that is only going to increase, particularly as we all know the
10:08 new measures that are in the offing for over short term accommodation. I think the whole
10:13 festival themselves can kind of distance themselves away from that because they know it's not
10:20 a viable option for so many people who want to come to the festival, mainly performers
10:24 and artists. There will be some audience members who can afford it, but there will be loads
10:29 of other audience members who can't and it's how to make the whole thing affordable.
10:34 But you know, Shona McCarthy, the Chief Executive of the Fringes Society was talking a few months
10:39 ago about, and one of her great themes is we've got an Olympic size event in Edinburgh
10:44 every year, but the infrastructure for that and the funding support for that is just nowhere
10:50 near the level you would have for an Olympic Games. So one of the things they've talked
10:54 about is could you have an Olympic village created in Edinburgh? Now it could, obviously
11:01 with the University and the Institute of Accommodation in the city, you've kind of got a bit of that
11:05 already, but in terms of low cost, affordable, a big campsite with various levels of accommodation
11:14 to suit different pockets. And there are parts of Edinburgh where you can see that happening.
11:21 There are obviously other things that are on the offering, like there's a cruise liner
11:24 ship is due to be berthed in Leith Docks next year. I think from memory, the cheapest price
11:32 of that was something like 120 quid, which some people that might be a reasonable amount
11:38 to pay at the lower end, but I think a lot of performers really, the dream scenario would
11:42 be to get something where either the accommodation is paid for by someone or it's very low cost
11:53 accommodation. That would be the real thing to kind of, I think, ensure that the fringe
11:59 is accessible and open access as it's promoted around the world, it's an open access festival.
12:05 But I think that there's been, even though this year there was 3,800 shows registered,
12:11 which was the second highest in the history of the event, there are a lot of concerns
12:15 that some people, it's just not accessible to them, both in terms of performing and coming
12:21 to see stuff.
12:22 There's the challenge. Thanks very much for letting that out so clearly, Brian. And we'll
12:27 be following this new group very closely over the next year in the run up to the next festival.
12:35 Well, well done for surviving it all. And thanks so much for your reporting throughout,
12:41 which has been absolutely superb. And you can read all that still at scotsman.com under
12:49 the festivals section. If you are there, please do subscribe and then you will not miss a
12:53 thing. And if you're out and about today, please do pick up a copy of the paper from
12:58 me and from Brian. It's bye for now.