Arts venues and cultural events need your support now more than ever: Hazel Johnson, Festival Director at Hidden Door, invites you to be part of something special at The Paper Factory this week
Scotland’s arts scene is vibrant, innovative, and utterly vital to our national identity, wellbeing and economy. Yet, like many sectors, it faces unprecedented challenges, from funding pressures to the ever-shifting landscape of audience engagement. Cities like Edinburgh are at their best when they have cultural venues that can thrive all year round, not just in festival season.
This week, we launch our most ambitious venture yet. The Paper Factory is a magnificent, abandoned industrial site which we’re transforming into a vibrant new arts venue hosting an amazing programme of music, visual art and performance. It’s a monumental undertaking, driven by a passionate team of volunteers, and its success hinges, quite simply, on audiences coming along to experience it.
Hidden Door was born from a belief that Edinburgh needs vibrant cultural venues that offer something different. By literally and figuratively opening up forgotten spaces for the arts, we create a place where creative talent can flourish.
We exist to provide a vital platform for new and emerging artists in Scotland, offering them the crucial opportunity to experiment and reach new audiences.
From our diverse music lineup, including promising local bands selected from hundreds of open call applications, to the captivating, site-specific art installations and immersive performances that bring The Paper Factory’s history to life – every element of Hidden Door is designed to be unique and unforgettable.
We were fortunate this year to benefit from the Creative Scotland Development Fund – a fiercely competitive pot of funding. We are also hugely grateful to the sponsors and partners who believe in us enough to generously give their support.
This support has meant we can be as accessible and inclusive as possible. This year we have offered more concessions and free tickets than ever before, including a “pay what you can” option to help us better serve the many different communities across the city.
But the stark truth is that as a volunteer-run charity, we rely on ticket sales. The magic we create, the opportunities we provide for artists, and our ability to keep opening up new, surprising spaces for the arts across our city – all of it depends on you stepping through our ‘hidden door’.
Your ticket isn’t just access to a great night out; it’s an investment in Edinburgh’s creative future, a vote of confidence in the artists who are shaping our cultural landscape, and a lifeline that allows us to continue our unique work. Without you, non-profit organisations like Hidden Door simply can’t exist.
We’ve all seen much-loved venues and arts organisations forced to close, a worrying trend accelerated by ongoing economic uncertainties. The impact from these external factors on the arts sector is all too real, with arts venues and cultural events needing your support now more than ever.
So I invite you to join us at The Paper Factory this week, from Wednesday to Sunday. Come and discover the energy, witness the innovation, and be part of a truly unique cultural moment.
If you want Hidden Door to keep doing what we do, transforming forgotten spaces and championing incredible local talent, then please come down and support us. We’ve been doing this for over a decade, and with you on board, we’ll keep doing it.
Hazel Johnson
Festival Director, Hidden Door