Every year, Edinburgh’s Festivals play host to more than 20,000 artists from all over the world, welcome audiences of 4 million and generate £184 million for the Scottish economy. The Festivals represent the largest cultural events in the world, attracting more people than a Commonwealth Games every year and defining Edinburgh’s international reputation as a vibrant, cultured and creative capital.
In 2012 and 2014 there is even more reason to celebrate as the worlds’ greatest sporting events and the world’s greatest arts events take place in the same country at the same time.
This astonishing timing creates an unrivalled opportunity to develop ambitious programming and diplomatic initiatives between Scotland, the UK and internationally that can genuinely transform the way cultural diplomacy works for Edinburgh, Scotland and its key partners and create an immediate impact and a permanent legacy in terms of audience development, cultural exchange, tourism, business, education, competitive country profiling and international relationship building.
Ambition
While the world’s elite and emerging athletes are competing in London and Glasgow, the world’s elite and emerging artists will be showcasing their cultural prowess in Edinburgh. We want to welcome international delegations whose countries are represented at Edinburgh’s Festivals to come to Edinburgh between the Olympics and Paralympics to see their ‘cultural teams’ perform. We want the 20,000 unaccredited press and the hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the Olympics to turn their eyes on Edinburgh and her international partners – and towards their future ambitions.
To achieve this we want to build on the remarkable cohesions, strengths and partnerships we have already developed across programming, cultural diplomacy and marketing and facilitate the inter-festival and inter-agency working that will be required to fulfil and maximise this vision.
Artistic Programming
Working together collaboratively for the first time on themes connected to the values of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games the Festivals will build on existing programming strengths and create new opportunities to expand individual and collective ambition, asserting the true internationalism of Edinburgh’s Festivals, placing them at the heart of the 2012 and 2014 cultural and tourism offering. The three key programming strands across the Festivals are:
1. The World Festivals
Country showcases and large international gatherings delivered with key countries
2. New Generation, New Talent
Showcasing emerging talent across Scotland, the UK and from key partner countries
3. Interactive Festivals
Distributing the best of the Edinburgh Festivals’ content worldwide
Cultural Diplomacy
Building towards 2012 and 2014 and beyond, Edinburgh’s Festivals want to support the development of complex cultural diplomacy initiatives across Festivals with Edinburgh, Scottish, UK and international agencies and governments by identifying key international focus areas; mapping key international partner relationships and building cultural, business and diplomatic partnerships.
Edinburgh’s Festivals already boast an extraordinary internationalism and a history of relationship building with governments, embassies, ministries and their agencies. There is now a will to build and extend these connections and to exploit them, not just to strengthen cultural connections but also academic, tourism, business and political connections over this period and beyond.
Marketing
The Festivals will integrate the above areas into a sophisticated multi-faceted marketing campaign to ensure that London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 are used as powerful platforms to increase the impact, attendance and visibility of Edinburgh’s Festivals.
Working with LOCOG, Visit Britain, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Visit Scotland, the Travel Trade, the BBC and Channel Four, the Festivals, through Festivals Edinburgh, are leading on a major partnership marketing campaign which will include a major PR campaign targeting the credited and unaccredited media who will descend upon London and Glasgow; bringing them to Edinburgh from London between the Olympics and the Paralympics and to Edinburgh from Glasgow during and after the Commonwealth Games, on an unprecedented level and broadcasting globally from Edinburgh in its peak summer period.
Project Partners
The ambitions expressed in the Edinburgh Festivals 2012-14 project have in principle support of all of its stakeholders and funders, including the City of Edinburgh Council, DEMA, Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, EventScotland, VisitScotland, the British Council Scotland, the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games. They all recognise the creative, diplomatic, commercial and reputational potential of the concept and initial conversations with potential international partners have indicated that this vision is a compelling one they want to be involved in.
Legacy and Benefits
• Increased and enriched multi-regional cultural partnerships, increasing the diversity and internationalism of Festival programmes
• Enhanced diplomatic partnerships with key countries and regions
• Enhanced artistic relationships with key countries and regions
• Enhanced programming and participation opportunities for international artists
• Enhanced participation opportunities for audiences
• Increased programming ambition of the Festivals attracting new and greater audience and artist numbers
• Increased local, national and international audiences through new work and increased visibility
• Increased international profile of the world’s leading Festival City and its international partners
• Increased academic relationships and partnerships
• Increased business relationships and partnerships
• Key London 2012 Olympic partner attracting greater profile of Edinburgh and its partners
• The development of an international model of practice in aligning cultural, tourism and business agencies and their objectives