Fears over future of North Edinburgh Community Festival

SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY FESTIVAL – REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!!!

As many of you know, we run this event on passion, community spirit, and a shoestring but this year the funding challenges have been extreme. So much so that, for the first time, we’re facing the very real possibility that the festival might not be able to go ahead.

To give us the best chance of keeping it alive, we’ve introduced a tiered cost for stalls, ranging from a heavily discounted £80 up to £250 depending on the size of your organisation.

This structure lets smaller groups stay involved while asking those with more resources to chip in a little extra to support the wider community.

If you’re taking a trading or community stall, we’re encouraging everyone who can to select the £150 payment. That contribution genuinely makes a difference to whether the festival can run. But if £80 is what’s manageable for you, please know that it’s still hugely appreciated, your presence matters just as much.

We’re doing everything we can to protect this festival and the space it creates for local makers, groups, and neighbours.

Your support, in whatever form you can offer it, means the world.

Thank you for sticking with us and for being part of what makes this festival special.

Find your registration form here – https://forms.office.com/r/jMTLzXQUds

NOTE: DEADLINE FOR REGISTERING AND PAYMENT IS 30TH MARCH 2026

Scottish Government confirms extension of support from Investing in Communities Fund following letter from Ian Murray MP

Following reports that the Scottish Government’s proposed spending plans will cut funding to community organisations doing vital work across Edinburgh, Ian Murray, the MP for Edinburgh South, wrote to the Shona Robinson, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, at the end of January to urge her to reverse the decision.

A reply from Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, confirmed that the Scottish Government have now agreed to transitional funding of up to a year for affected groups (as reported by NEN last weekEd.).

Ian Murray, MP for Edinburgh South, said: “While this transitional funding is welcome, it’s not enough – all it really does is delay the financial cliff edge facing local organisations who are supporting some of our most vulnerable communities.

“The financial pressures Kate Forbes mentions in her reply are completely of the SNP’s own making – a result of their mismanagement of the public finances over the last 19 years.

“The UK Labour government has provided the Scottish Government with an additional £10.3 billion in resources since coming to power. Where has the money gone?

“I am in touch with those affected by this locally and will continue to do all I can to support them.”