Edinburgh’s festivals: Search launched for figurehead to secure future of ‘irreplaceable cultural assets’

Warnings over city’s ‘fragile’ events ecosystem

Edinburgh’s festivals have launched a global hunt for a new figurehead to lead efforts to secure the future of the Scottish capital’s “irreplaceable cultural assets.”

An international recruitment drive is underway for a “proven leader” to help protect and develop the city’s flagship events amid warning over an urgent need to address their “fragile” ecosystem.

The role, which will come with an annual salary of £78,000, is described as “an unmissable opportunity to make a substantial contribution to the future success of Edinburgh’s festivals.”

Edinburgh's festivals have been running since 1947. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

However the festivals advertising the role have highlighted the impact of “escalating” costs for artists, organisers and festival workers, growing pressures on public funding and sponsorship, and post-pandemic changes in ticket-buying habits.

They are said to have suffered a 40 per cent “real terms” drop in their funding over the last 15 years.

Festivals Edinburgh works with major events including the Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe, the Tattoo, Hogmanay, children’s festival Imaginate, and the city’s annual celebrations of literature, jazz and blues, visual art, film and storytelling.

The organisation, which was set up to protect the Scottish capital’s status as the world’s leading “festival city,” is looking for a new director to replace Julia Amour, who has been in the role since 2015.

Edinburgh's festivals have been running since 1947. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Ms Amour said she felt the time was right for a “new leader” for the festivals after a period of “incredible change.”

She will be leaving after this year’s August festivals, which were recently valued at being worth almost £500 million for the city’s economy and are said to be supporting more than 7000 jobs in Edinburgh since pandemic restrictions were eased.

However the recruitment hunt for her replacement has been launched at a time of huge uncertainty over the future public funding of the festivals.

Creative Scotland is facing a £47 million funding gap to meet demand for long-term support from arts organisations.

Julia Amour has been director of Festivals Edinburgh since 2015. Picture: Rob McDougall

Its chief executive, Iain Munro, has warned that it faces having to support “far fewer” organisations in future unless there is a rethink over its funding.

Ms Amour’s departure has emerged a year after she warned of a risk of the festivals being “taken for granted” and suggested that they had been “left hanging by a precarious financial thread” by a lack of investment from public funders.

At the time, Ms Amour called for a “serious effort” to realign ambitions and resources for the festivals, saying that they had suffered from “declining investment” ever since the global financial crisis in 2008.

However recent months have seen the government and the city council come under from the leaders of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe over a lack of progress over the future funding.

Edinburgh's festivals have been running since 1947. (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Key challenges for Ms Amour’s replacement are expected to include the possibility of funding cuts for the festivals later this year, lobbying on their behalf over the Scottish Government’s pledge to “more than double” arts spending in Scotland in the next few years, and trying to secure new investment from Edinburgh’s proposed tourist tax.

The job description states: “Edinburgh’s festivals are world-class cultural assets for Scotland with an international reputation and appeal unmatched by any other cultural event on the globe. They are distinctively Scottish and yet profoundly international.

“Globally minded and locally rooted, our festivals returned in 2023 with over 4,000 events featuring artists from 70 countries – including 2,000 from across Scotland – and attracting an increased level of international industry and diplomatic interest.

“Local audiences remain the lifeblood of the festivals with a breakdown of around 50 per cent from Edinburgh and Scotland, and 50 per cent from the rest of the UK and the wider world.

“A post-pandemic study has shown the festivals are an even stronger draw thanks to their unique, ‘must see’ reputations, which support regrowth of jobs and livelihoods.

As well as realising more economic impact with a lower carbon footprint, their engagement with local communities and schools has also risen by more than a third since 2018.

The Usher Hall is normally one of the main venues used for the Edinburgh International Festival. Picture: Clark James

“These results have been hard-won. Ticket buying habits have been disrupted by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, pressures on public funding and private sponsorship have increased, and affordability challenges are escalating for artists, festival workers and organisers.

“Changes are now underway both in the strategies of festivals and in culture and tourism policies, including the planned introduction of a visitor levy by the city council and the national campaign for all political parties to reinvest in culture, building on Scottish Government commitments to increase funding by £100m over the coming years.

“While Edinburgh’s festivals have re-established their position as a magnet for artists, audiences, industry and policymakers, the ecosystem remains fragile.“We require a concerted collective effort to sustain and develop these irreplaceable cultural assets.”

Festivals Edinburgh said it was looking for someone who was resilient, persuasive, political astute and a “diplomat,” who had integrity and good judgment.

The job advert adds: “You will have exceptional influencing skills, be able to broker and manage partnerships, and be a passionate advocate. You will be able to command the respect of peers and partners, and work collaboratively and authoritatively to deliver success."

A spokesperson for the Festivals Edinburgh board said: “After nearly a decade of transformative leadership, Julia Amour has announced that she will be stepping down as director of Festivals Edinburgh in autumn 2024.

“Recruitment has now begun for a successor to lead the organisation through the next exciting phase of its development.”

Ms Amour said: “It’s been a real privilege to work at the heart of Scotland’s world leading cultural brands and, after seeing the organisation through a period of incredible change, the time feels right for a new leader to help develop the future success of Edinburgh’s festivals.”