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| Edinburgh fringe fights for right to party amid corporate ‘oasis’ of calm | Edinburgh fringe fights for right to party amid corporate ‘oasis’ of calm |
| (1 day later) | |
| Vanessa Thorpe Observer arts and media correspondent | |
| Sun 6 Aug 2017 00.02 BST | |
| Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2017 02.53 GMT | |
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| It was meant to celebrate all that the summer festival season has come to mean to Edinburgh and to its millions of visitors over 70 years. But this weekend’s spectacular light show in one of the Georgian New Town’s grandest squares has provoked a row that threatens to fracture anniversary festivities and stoke up old rivalries between the international arts festival and its ever-expanding fringe. | It was meant to celebrate all that the summer festival season has come to mean to Edinburgh and to its millions of visitors over 70 years. But this weekend’s spectacular light show in one of the Georgian New Town’s grandest squares has provoked a row that threatens to fracture anniversary festivities and stoke up old rivalries between the international arts festival and its ever-expanding fringe. |
| The light show staged by the “official” festival late on Friday night in St Andrew Square is the focus of anger for some fringe veterans because it followed a business decision to remove all the pop-up venues from the central gardens in the square. | The light show staged by the “official” festival late on Friday night in St Andrew Square is the focus of anger for some fringe veterans because it followed a business decision to remove all the pop-up venues from the central gardens in the square. |
| As a result of a corporate attempt to create “an oasis of calm”, fringe customers are now much less likely to venture to a part of the city where some of the festival’s most commercially vulnerable venues are competing for audiences. | As a result of a corporate attempt to create “an oasis of calm”, fringe customers are now much less likely to venture to a part of the city where some of the festival’s most commercially vulnerable venues are competing for audiences. |
| “It absolutely is a shame,” said Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Fringe Society. “We are in an ongoing conversation with the owners and with the council and what we have asked for is to get some sort of clarity on the criteria for using that square.” | “It absolutely is a shame,” said Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Fringe Society. “We are in an ongoing conversation with the owners and with the council and what we have asked for is to get some sort of clarity on the criteria for using that square.” |
| The loss of public footfall in that part of Edinburgh, she said, would be “really felt” by the fringe venues around the square. As thousands of tourists and festivalgoers queued for access to watch Bloom, the free light-projection show, some were critical of the enforced clearance of the area in the name of highbrow public art. | The loss of public footfall in that part of Edinburgh, she said, would be “really felt” by the fringe venues around the square. As thousands of tourists and festivalgoers queued for access to watch Bloom, the free light-projection show, some were critical of the enforced clearance of the area in the name of highbrow public art. |
| It did not help that crowds could also see a group of invited “priority” guests including politicians and sponsors drinking in the top-floor restaurant at the luxury department store Harvey Nichols – which is on the square – and watching the events from on high. | It did not help that crowds could also see a group of invited “priority” guests including politicians and sponsors drinking in the top-floor restaurant at the luxury department store Harvey Nichols – which is on the square – and watching the events from on high. |
| The opening show was sponsored by Standard Life, which has an expensively refurbished new headquarters on the square, and the investment company is taking most of the blame from fringe promoters. | The opening show was sponsored by Standard Life, which has an expensively refurbished new headquarters on the square, and the investment company is taking most of the blame from fringe promoters. |
| “A celebration of the 70th anniversary could have been achieved without shutting down the fringe and jazz festivals in the square. We’d gladly have collaborated,” said Kenny O’Brien, operations manager for the Stand comedy club. “This event seems to be more about Standard Life than the Edinburgh international festival … A cynic might suggest the event could be more to do with Standard Life showing the world their new building.” | “A celebration of the 70th anniversary could have been achieved without shutting down the fringe and jazz festivals in the square. We’d gladly have collaborated,” said Kenny O’Brien, operations manager for the Stand comedy club. “This event seems to be more about Standard Life than the Edinburgh international festival … A cynic might suggest the event could be more to do with Standard Life showing the world their new building.” |
| The Stand claims to have lost a third of its annual business, while its partner, the Famous Spiegeltent, has ceased trading. Meanwhile, O’Brien said he was shocked to hear that following Bloom, later in the year the square will host a Christmas market and an ice rink. Speaking at a fringe festival launch event, O’Brien invoked the age-old spirit of the fringe, which emerged in defiance of the exclusive high culture of the main festival. “We are proud to be in the ‘alliance of defiance’, which remains as pertinent today as it was when my mammy was five,” he said. | The Stand claims to have lost a third of its annual business, while its partner, the Famous Spiegeltent, has ceased trading. Meanwhile, O’Brien said he was shocked to hear that following Bloom, later in the year the square will host a Christmas market and an ice rink. Speaking at a fringe festival launch event, O’Brien invoked the age-old spirit of the fringe, which emerged in defiance of the exclusive high culture of the main festival. “We are proud to be in the ‘alliance of defiance’, which remains as pertinent today as it was when my mammy was five,” he said. |
| The Stand’s venues have an established profile on the cutting edge of the fringe because they are run on broadly egalitarian principles and pay their performers a bigger cut. | The Stand’s venues have an established profile on the cutting edge of the fringe because they are run on broadly egalitarian principles and pay their performers a bigger cut. |
| They have been the preferred venue for comics such as Stewart Lee, Daniel Kitson, Mitch Benn, Simon Munnery and Jo Caulfield. The Stand was set up by Tommy Sheppard, now a leading Scottish National party MP and formerly a tireless campaigner for the fringe festival. | They have been the preferred venue for comics such as Stewart Lee, Daniel Kitson, Mitch Benn, Simon Munnery and Jo Caulfield. The Stand was set up by Tommy Sheppard, now a leading Scottish National party MP and formerly a tireless campaigner for the fringe festival. |
| In 2014 Sheppard gained permission from the city council and the business group Essential Edinburgh, which is responsible for the site throughout the year, to take over St Andrew Square, which was designed by the architect James Craig, built in 1772 and had been closed to the public during a £2.7 million makeover. | In 2014 Sheppard gained permission from the city council and the business group Essential Edinburgh, which is responsible for the site throughout the year, to take over St Andrew Square, which was designed by the architect James Craig, built in 1772 and had been closed to the public during a £2.7 million makeover. |
| The ruling rejuvenated the area between the New Town and the south side of the capital, once the hub of the fringe. Three late-opening performance areas were created in the centre: the Famous Spiegeltent, an intimate yurt-style tent, and a world-music stage, all centred around a towering monument. | The ruling rejuvenated the area between the New Town and the south side of the capital, once the hub of the fringe. Three late-opening performance areas were created in the centre: the Famous Spiegeltent, an intimate yurt-style tent, and a world-music stage, all centred around a towering monument. |
| A spokeswoman for Standard Life said: “There is a big difference between this event and staging fringe shows in the square, in that this has very little infrastructure, which is up for a very short period of time. It doesn’t prevent anyone accessing or using the square and has very little impact. The grass has had to be re-turfed seven times in around 18 months, which is clearly unsustainable.” | A spokeswoman for Standard Life said: “There is a big difference between this event and staging fringe shows in the square, in that this has very little infrastructure, which is up for a very short period of time. It doesn’t prevent anyone accessing or using the square and has very little impact. The grass has had to be re-turfed seven times in around 18 months, which is clearly unsustainable.” |
| The director of the international festival, Fergus Linehan, said Bloom was intended to celebrate the history of both arts festivals and he added: “There was never a question of us not being able to do the event if there was anything else happening in the square. But it might have been a slightly different event.” | The director of the international festival, Fergus Linehan, said Bloom was intended to celebrate the history of both arts festivals and he added: “There was never a question of us not being able to do the event if there was anything else happening in the square. But it might have been a slightly different event.” |
| Essential Edinburgh has said it wished to find “a balanced and sustainable way of managing the use of the garden for the future”. | Essential Edinburgh has said it wished to find “a balanced and sustainable way of managing the use of the garden for the future”. |
| Standard Life’s spokeswoman indicated that the fringe may return to the square. “We are also discussing [creating] permanent infrastructure, something that could work for those putting on events and not impact the use of the square.” | Standard Life’s spokeswoman indicated that the fringe may return to the square. “We are also discussing [creating] permanent infrastructure, something that could work for those putting on events and not impact the use of the square.” |
| Plans for a luxury hotel in the grade A-listed Buchan House on the square and for a £45 million new concert hall nearby have also been announced. | Plans for a luxury hotel in the grade A-listed Buchan House on the square and for a £45 million new concert hall nearby have also been announced. |
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