Edinburgh visitor tax levy festivals crunch meeting postponed

The Edinburgh festivals are “disappointed” after a crunch meeting on the distribution of visitor levy funds to the events was postponed by the city council’s culture committee on a technicality.

Festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, which represents the Fringe and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, had submitted a deposition ahead of the meeting, warning that the tax will cost the wider festival ecosystem more than £1.1 million a year.

The joint document warned that without extra funding the “reach and impact” of the festivals would be greatly reduced and called for a “proportionate share” of the levy income to be reinvested in the events and the wider cultural infrastructure that underpins the city’s visitor economy.

However, the council report on Third Party Cultural Grant Funding 2027-28 was withdrawn from the agenda of the committee meeting on the technical basis that it had been submitted a “couple of hours late” by officials.

However, the council said the wider issue of funding needed to be “discuss[ed] in more detail”, saying it was “important to take the time to do so.”

Tony Lankester, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, who had been due to attend the meeting with EIBF director Jenny Niven, said: “The convenor of the Culture Committee withdrew the report from the agenda, on the technical basis that it had been submitted late by officials, by a couple of hours. As a result there was no discussion, no opportunity to make the case, and no consideration of the various proposed amendments. It will be tabled for discussion at their next meeting.

The Edinburgh festivals called for more funding from the visitor levy. | Getty Images

“We’re disappointed that we weren’t given the opportunity to make the case for the Fringe or the wider Festivals, and frustrated that an already lengthy process is now made longer – with continued uncertainty and the absence of any meaningful engagement with the affected festivals.”

He added: “The visitor levy is impacting on Fringe participants (audiences, artists and venues) this month, and we would have hoped that Council would have done the work necessary to demonstrate how it will be used to protect Edinburgh’s cultural assets. Until those plans are real, any imagined benefit is only lip service. The fringe submitted ideas and proposals to the Council nearly a year ago, and remain ready to discuss those.”

The festivals had warned that visitor levy income should not replace core funding from the council through the Third Party Cultural Grant programme.

Margaret Graham, culture and communities convener, said: “We recognise the pressures that many of Edinburgh’s cultural organisations are facing. We want to provide them with the certainty they need in the short term, while helping them to sustain the contribution they make to the city and our aim to maintain our position as a world-leading cultural capital.

“Having considered feedback from our partners and fellow councillors, I think it’s important that we take time to discuss in more detail how best to achieve this and reach a consensus on next steps.”

She added: “I appreciate there will be some frustrations around this, and I apologise to those who came to address the committee today, but we have assured them that we will take this forward as quickly as possible. This does not affect existing funding agreements, which are in place until March 2027.

“It’s worth remembering that these proposals are just one part of our wider visitor levy spend programmes, which will deliver lasting benefits to our residents and visitors.”