Edinburgh's tourist tax could help bring back Festival Cavalcade and Fireworks Concert
Edinburgh’s new tourist tax could be used to revive the city’s Festival Cavalcade and fireworks.
Edinburgh’s Festival Cavalcade and the Fireworks Concert could be revived thanks to the city’s new tourist tax.
The Visitor Levy - which comes into effect in July - is also proposed to fund the return of regular community events at the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens.
Next week’s meeting of the council’s culture and communities committee will be presented with a list of projects put forward for Visitor Levy funding, with the final decision on what the money is used for to be taken by the full council later this month.
The report to the committee proposes setting up an Events Investment Fund. And it says: “It is recommended that this fund can be used to reintroduce the Festival closing/opening events.”
Committee convener Margaret Graham said: “We are hoping to reintroduce the Festival Cavalcade over time. It’s one of the events that brings the whole community together in Edinburgh and, probably harking back to my younger years, it was a remarkably wonderful day out. I haven’t spoken to anybody who has said that is a bad idea.
“The closing one is the Fireworks - I’m not sure about that from the environmental impact of view how popular that is. But it could be a drone display, it doesn’t have to be fireworks.”
It is understood the council accepts private sector sponsors would probably also be needed for both events in view of the costs involved.
The Festival Cavalcade - a parade of bands, floats and Fringe performers - used to take place along Princes Street on the opening weekend of the Festival.
The report says the fund would “work with partners to reintroduce the popular opening and closing free festival events, providing a possible opening cavalcade and drone/light show in place of closing fireworks for environmental considerations”.
The new fund would augment the existing £250,000-a-year Events Fund. The report says: “Recent applications to this fund totalled over £840,000, demonstrating that there is a need to provide additional funding to support events with a hope to encourage more events that are unique to Edinburgh and developed within our communities.”
It is also proposed the Events Investment Fund should cover the £1.7 million contribution the council has already agreed towards the cost of the Tour de France starting from Edinburgh in 2027.
And another proposed Programming Fund would support a free programme of community events from April to September at the Ross Bandstand, reviving an old tradition.
The report said the focus would be on “plug and play” community events such as “mid-scale contemporary music, theatre and cinema, restoring the spirit of public bandstand in an iconic location”.
Event production infrastructure would be provided, along with basic staffing and marketing through the CultureEdinburgh website and other channels.
The Programming Fund would also enable one-off major exhibitions and cultural programmes to be brought to Edinburgh.
The report says: “Working within our core venues - such as the Usher Hall and City Art Centre - the quality of events and exhibitions seen during August can be extended throughout the year; and working with organisations such as the National Galleries & National Museums, will enable riskier and ambitious exhibitions to be shown more regularly and for longer.”
This fund would also be used to further develop Edinburgh’s Tartan Parade. The report says: “This parade will bring together tartans, pipe bands, dancers, musicians, organisations, and individuals from Edinburgh, as well as across Scotland, to celebrate the country’s rich heritage, tartans culture and inclusivity.”
A separate list of projects from the council’s transport and environment committee, including the revamp of George Street, will also be considered by the full council for Visitor Levy funding.
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