VisitScotland reveals Year of Stories 2022 highlights for Edinburgh and the Lothians
A new report has highlighted how Edinburgh and the Lothians helped contribute to the success of Year of Stories 2022.
Collated by VisitScotland, the evaluation report which features independent research and partner feedback, shows the Themed Year delivered significant benefits to Scotland and its communities.*
Highlights included:
- A total of 354 funded and partner events across all 32 local authority areas including 47 funded and 31 partner events in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
- Greater collaboration across the tourism, events and related sectors was evidenced with hundreds of industry partners participating and a wide range of innovative partnership projects and campaigns inspired by the year.
- Scots and Gaelic showcased by 42% of funded events.
- Vast promotional reach was achieved including 4 million views of the Year of Stories promotional videos, 2,760 pieces of media coverage and marketing campaigns reaching people 148m times.
A central strand of activity was the creation of a diverse events programme. The funded events programmes, with support from Museums Galleries Scotland and National Lottery Heritage Fund, invested a total of £1.33 million in the sector, shining a spotlight on well-loved and brand new stories alike. The widest range of organisations from national companies to community groups participated.
Funded events included Edinburgh International Book Festival which this year ran a special Year of Stories programming strand called Scotland’s Stories Now.
Similarly, Figures of Speech a partnership between Scottish Storytelling Centre (SSC) and Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, created six events across two seasons bringing writers and artists together to explore Scottish literature through cross-arts presentations and new commissions.
In addition, a brand new event in 2022 was Of Scotland’s Soils and Soul developed by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Held across four Botanic Garden sites including Edinburgh, the event offered visitors four bespoke trails showcasing stories of and about Scotland that related to the land, plants and nature.
Local communities took to the spotlight with the support of the innovative Community Stories Programme, a partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund and Scottish Government.
This programme provided opportunities for communities to come together, tell the stories that matter to them and develop skills, opportunities and partnerships.
Events in Edinburgh and the Lothians included: A happy Nameste (greetings to you) (Dance Ihayami); A Poetry Feast of Mythical Beasts (Push the Boat Out Ltd); BE United Presents (BE United); Family Encounters – New Stories Strand (Imaginate); John Muir’s Stories of Survival (East Lothian Council); Listening to Linlithgow – The People’s Stories (Linlithgow Heritage Trust); Object of my desire (West Lothian Council); OMOS Workshops and Storytelling Cabaret (Icky Arts CIC (Pollyanna)); Oor Toon (Penicuik Community Arts Association); Pavementology – the story of Street Events at the Fringe (Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society); Preserving and Celebrating Edinburgh’s Deaf Heritage (Deaf Action); Stories of the Bathgate Hills: A Celebrations of the Voices of People and Place (Bathgate Hills Venture SCIO); The Calder Witch Hunt (West Lothian Council); The Phone Box – East Linton voices shared down the line (Catherine Wheels Theatre Company); and Voices from a New Town (Craigsfarm Community Development Project Ltd).
As well as an extensive events programme, the Year of Stories 2022 offered opportunities for the wider tourism industry and related sectors to share their own stories, with multiple examples of businesses and organisations collaborating to create new content, campaigns and activities for communities and visitors.
Locally, Edinburgh-based Mercat Tours used the Themed Years to launch a social impact project to support vulnerable people in Edinburgh through storytelling. The Our Stories, Your City project raised funds to allow members of the Grassmarket Community Project the chance to experience a tour and attraction visit free of charge.
Meanwhile The Real Mary King’s Close partnered with Edinburgh Gin to create ‘Stories & Wonders’ gin tasting tours offering visitors the chance to sample four unique gins with historical links to the city..
As part of the Year of Stories, the Scotch Whisky Experience highlighted a different story each week about one of the bottles in their whisky collection. Year of Stories was also a good match for their Tasting Tales events, which include stories about Scotch, the distilleries and the Scottish food to which they match the whiskies.
Finally, in November 2022, Rosslyn Chapel launched an initiative which asked visitors from around the world to share a story about the attraction. The chapel, which was founded in 1446, has featured in a number of stories, most notably Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, but it has attracted visitors for generations, many of whom have recorded their stories in travel journals.
Neil Christison, VisitScotland Regional Director said: “Themed Years provide an opportunity for collaboration and partnership across tourism, events and wider sectors, using Scotland’s strengths to attract domestic and international visitors and grow the visitor economy.
“The findings of this evaluation show that the Year of Stories really engaged communities right across the Capital, Mid, East and West Lothian. While the year may have ended, the story is far from over. Our hope is that businesses and events continue sharing their stories and visitors continue to be inspired by the places, people and cultures associated with them.”
Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “I am delighted that Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 has had such a positive and lasting impact in so many communities across Scotland.
“As a result of partnership working, the fantastic range of events on offer inspired people to create and share their own incredible stories, traditions and journeys.
“The high level of engagement with this themed year will leave a lasting legacy as we continue to tell each other stories about who we are and where we live.”
Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland said: “The Year of Stories Community Stories Fund created a powerful opportunity to support a wide range of people to take part in the themed year and we are proud to have delivered this in partnership with VisitScotland, with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish Government.
“The fund supported creativity with new and old stories brought to life allowing locals and visitors to experience a wide diversity of voices.
“The evaluation clearly demonstrates the positive impact participation had on the groups who held events and the communities across the country who came together to enjoy them. To know that this year’s programme increased awareness of and appreciation for Scotland’s stories and has inspired future visits is a remarkable achievement by all those involved.”
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said: “The impact of Year of Stories was writ large across Scotland last year. People throughout the country really got behind it, a fact confirmed by this report.
“The diversity of stories and how they were shared was a particular feature of the Year of Stories due to the Community Stories Programme, which was supported through funding from National Lottery players. It really engaged with the imagination of individuals, communities and groups, allowing them to share their stories, their way – stories of Scotland’s people, places and cultures.”
The Themed Years model provides a shared platform for many organisations to come together and multiply their impact by working together, inspired by the same theme and utilising common branding and tools. Scoping for options and approaches for a possible 2025 Themed Year is now underway with more details to be released towards the end of 2023.
The Year of Stories Evaluation Report can be viewed here
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