Exclusive:Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Council chiefs back calls for funding rethink over 'nationally important' event

Scottish Government urged to find ‘additional resources’

City council leaders have thrown their weight behind calls for the Scottish Government to rethink its support for Scotland's biggest cultural event – weeks after it was branded a "national embarrassment".

Senior councillors are calling on the Government to recognise the "national importance" of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the wake of warnings the event is becoming "almost impossible" to deliver due to a lack of financial support.

Council officials are expected to produce a report on the future of the festival and the Fringe Society, the arts charity, which has overseen the event since 1959, within the new few months.

George Square is one of the most popular destinations for shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: William Burdett-Coutts

Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy last month told The Scotsman the event was being "exceptionalised" and "exploited", while being championed as a "jewel in the crown" for Edinburgh and Scotland.

She called for crisis over the future of the event talks after the Fringe Society was twice turned down by Creative Scotland for funding within the space of month, and losing some of its annual funding support for the council.

Ms McCarthy said the complexity of the event appeared to have been used as an “excuse” not to support it, claimed funding decisions were being made on “hearsay and gossip”, and suggested there was an “unconscious bias” against the festival.

The council has insisted it has provided nearly £1.26 million to the Fringe Society over the past six years.

The Pleasance Courtyard is one of the most popular venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Andrew Perry

However, support from the local authority has dwindled to its lowest level in modern times despite warnings from Ms McCarthy the event is facing an “existential threat” and is “creaking at the seams” due to a lack of support.

Creative Scotland has previously accused the Fringe Society of painting an “inaccurate picture” over its public funding and has described the running of the Fringe Society as “particularly precarious”.

However, councillors will this week be asked to back calls by the Labour-run administration for the Scottish Government to provide “additional sources” to support the Fringe and for officials to produce a report on the funding situation at the Fringe Society and the work the charity carries out.

A proposed motion that will be voted on at the full council meeting highlights how the council only charges the Fringe Society a “peppercorn rent” for its office, shop and box office on the Royal Mile.

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Rob Aldridge, who was recently unveiled as an official ambassador for the Fringe, described the event as “one of Edinburgh's great success stories”.

The council has also approved plans for the Fringe Society to turn a community centre based in a Victorian-era school building into a new “headquarters” for the event.

The venue is expected to be taken over in the autumn by the Fringe Society after the project secured the support of the UK government, which has also pledged £1m to help hundreds of artists and performers meet the costs involved in taking a show to the event over the next two years.

Council leader Cammy Day said: “I’ve met with funders and the Fringe. We’re working together to come to a sustainable solution to keep the Fringe thriving for years to come. We need a new settlement with all partners to ensure the Fringe remains a global icon.

"This may mean new ways of workings between funders, venues and the Fringe Society. We want to explore that collectively and constructively.”

The Scottish Government has insisted it values the significance of the Fringe and remains committing to what it describes as a “world-renowned event”. It added: “We will continue to discuss the funding situation with the Fringe Society and do everything within our powers and resources to protect the entertainment, economic and skills development opportunities the Fringe Festival provides.”