Challenge 11.7

What is the problem, and how does it affect the Challenge Sponsor organisation, service users and/or People of Scotland?

Scotland’s festivals provide an invaluable platform for our artists, creatives and performing companies. Enjoyed by local, national and international audiences, they contribute hundreds of millions of pounds to Scotland’s economy by attracting audiences with their renowned quality, scale, and capability, which is admired and respected around the world.

An example of the economic impact of the 11 Edinburgh Festivals (from a report published in June 2023 by Festivals Edinburgh), showed the impact of the festivals between 2015 and 2022. It demonstrated:

1. Increased economic impact in Edinburgh from £280m in 2015 to £407m in 2022, and in Scotland from £313m to £367m.

2. In 2022 the festivals supported 5,855 new FTE jobs in Edinburgh and 4,970 in Scotland, compared to 5,650 and 6,000 respectively in 2015.

Therefore the value to the economy provided by festivals is vast – and for this reason we need to work to ensure their longevity.

Festivals of all sizes across Scotland report facing severe challenges around increased costs, lack of accommodation, and available public transport links that would help mitigate lack of accommodation. This is placing significant strain on festivals and threatening their sustainability and ability to attract a diverse range of audiences, workers, media, and performers. These challenges, particularly in more urban areas like Edinburgh are narrowing both the variety of acts and of audiences, when a guiding principle is offering access for all. Restricting access to culture, which can have a positive impact on wellbeing and creativity and festivals can be one of the ways people interact with culture over the year. This is affecting festivals not just in cities but in islands and rural areas when large numbers of people gather over short periods to enjoy art performances and there simply may not be sufficient room for them to stay.

With around 200 festivals per year across Scotland, can we use technology to enable our infrastructure to support festivals to focus on being successful, accessible and creatively stimulating for the benefit of Scotland’s people, creative sector and economy, retaining their status as leading events nationally and internationally. Festivals are both the leading cultural asset of Scotland and a launchpad for many performers to tour their acts abroad.

How will we know the Challenge has been solved?

By solving this challenge, we hope to experience the following outcomes:

• More sustainable transport to access festivals

• A clear process for co-ordinating travel flexibly on a regional and national scale

• Accommodation costs stops being a major media discussion point

• Audience numbers increase without overwhelming infrastructure

• Festivals see a greater diversity of audiences, workers and performers

• There are unique innovative shows and performances from a steady flow of new performers

• There is affordable and accessible accommodation

• Easy public transport to and from festivals

• A coordinated approach exists across transport, policing, licensing, accommodation providers with an effective system in place to share good practice across festivals.

Who are the end users likely to be?

• Festivals – the organisations themselves, the staff who they employ directly and the artists, performing companies and third party contractors who they work with

• Attendees – local, national and international visitors who attend festival

• The wider general public – who live and work in a surrounding area to a festival

Has the Challenge Sponsor attempted to solve this problem before?

There has been no attempt at a direct procurement of this solution in the market place, initiatives that have been undertaken are more likely to have been looked at in isolation by festivals themselves, in partnership with transport authorities or providers and/or by local authorities.   While there may be providers who will block-book accommodation or organise bespoke transport they do not offer a solution for all and may in fact exacerbate the problem. It is not an area – to the best of our knowledge – where a solution can be acquired on the open market.

Are there any interdependencies or blockers?

Festivals, local authorities who support them and artists, particularly up-and-coming artists, as well as national government all have severely restricted budgets. While festivals may bring benefits for short periods, the hospitality business may focus more on other types of year-round business with a higher spending power. Residents in some cities may have started to oppose any growth of festivals if they are perceived to disadvantage local residents by continually raising demand for accommodation and, as a consequence, rental prices.

Will a solution need to integrate with any existing systems / equipment?

Not yet known.

Is this part of an existing service?

In part yes — delivery of a public transport system that can flex to unusual pressures and be aligned to support festival infrastructure.

Any technologies or features the Challenge Sponsor wishes to explore or avoid?

To explore what existing good practice exists and can be adapted or used in different circumstances.

To avoid solutions that only benefit those with buying power and discriminate against those with none.

What is the commercial opportunity beyond a CivTech contract?

Beyond festivals there are numerous situations, notably large sporting events, where people gather for a short time in huge numbers and require accommodation and transport all at once. Finding a solutions for festivals might open the door to finding a solution for large gatherings for other purposes.

Who are the stakeholders?

• Scottish Government

• Councils

• Festival organisers

• Hospitality sector

• Transport sector

• Arts organisations

• Artists and their representatives

Who’s in the Challenge Sponsor team?

• Scottish Government policy teams – festivals but we can also facilitate contact with major events, transport and event policy teams.

• Scottish Government analysts and any analysis done that relates to culture sector views

• Festival Partnership steering group which represents the festivals have already contributed their time and would be likely to continue to do so as well as all arts festivals in the country.

What is the policy background to the Challenge?

Every year in Scotland, over 200 festivals are attended by locals, visitors and tourists. These festivals range from signature events such as the Edinburgh’s International Festival and Fringe and Celtic Connections to festivals which define and reflect culture across the country such as HebCelt in Stornoway, Orkney’s St Magnus Festival and the Wigtown Book Festival. The very success of festivals in bringing people together in large numbers have resulted in problems which need to be addressed.

For example during Edinburgh in August, a number of the city’s 11 annual festivals run almost concurrently. While the atmosphere and creative blend generated by such a combination of events is recognised as a global cultural phenomenon and a huge draw for performers and visitors, it is also putting enormous pressure on accommodation in a major city with the Fringe alone showcasing around 3,500 shows per year. 

This is exacerbated by limited late night public transport between Edinburgh and Glasgow and surrounding areas which means these are not seen as viable options for festival visitors to stay or performers and staff to travel to and from.   Transport was identified as a key concern during the consultation phase for Glasgow's Events Strategy 2035 and the city’s world leading annual portfolio of festivals such as Celtic Connections and the Glasgow Film Festival.

The issues of transport and accommodation are challenging for other festivals across Scotland such as in rural and island areas where there may either not be sufficient tourist accommodation, especially during peak seasons and where public transport is very limited or even non-existent.

Linked to this the Scottish Government through the Programme for Government 2024-25 committed to establishing a partnership for Scotland’s arts festivals ensuring we take a strategic approach to supporting and promoting arts festivals to ensure that they flourish and maximise their contribution to Scotland.  This includes looking at barriers and impediments to their success, of which accommodation and transportation have been identified as significant, and interlinked, barriers.