Recognised the world over as platforms of creative excellence, festivals in Edinburgh have received a total of £633,396 of additional funding from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland to support continued strategic development activity.
Launched in 2018 and ending in December 2023, the Platforms for Creative Excellence (PlaCE) was developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and Festivals Edinburgh and was designed to help festivals to:
- diversify their year-round partnerships with the culture sector across the city and Scotland
- drive transformation and creative innovation through long-term programming approaches
- increase career and skills development capacity for creatives and young people
- build new and lasting relationships with less engaged communities.
An independent evaluation report from BOP Consulting has found that PlaCE funding played a significant role in festival resilience through the pandemic and 97% of community partners reported high levels of satisfaction from engagement with the festivals.
Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “The Scottish Government’s commitment to investing in arts and culture remains strong, which is why we have continued to provide support, through Creative Scotland, to Edinburgh’s festivals.
“Communities right across the city will benefit from almost £640,000 in PLaCE funding. We hope this will allow Festivals to continue their development and deliver more fantastic work in our schools and with our local communities.”
This additional funding on top of the transformative PlaCE programme will allow festivals in Edinburgh to continue delivery of this strategic development activity into the next year and beyond.
The following festivals have received this funding:
| Festival | Funding amount |
| Edinburgh Art Festival | £50,000 |
| Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society | £75,000 |
| Edinburgh International Book Festival | £53,450 |
| Edinburgh International Festival | £75,000 |
| Edinburgh International Film Festival | £75,000 |
| Edinburgh International Science Festival | £60,000 |
| Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival | £75,000 |
| Festivals Edinburgh | £19,946 |
| Imaginate | £75,000 |
| Scottish International Storytelling Festival | £75,000 |
| TOTAL | £633,396 |
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