History
The Edinburgh Festival is the largest cultural festival in the world held annually starting from the month of August in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, and formed by several organizations not affiliated with one another. Officially, the Edinburgh Festival is formed by various events separate from one another, yet visitors from around the world treat it as a single large event. Two of the component festivals of the Edinburgh Festival – the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (EFF), came together in 1947 to “flower the human spirit” by refreshing cultural activities in Scotland and the rest of Europe following the end of the Second World War (The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, n.d.).
The EFF, Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Hogmanay are among the most prominent and internationally-acclaimed component festivals of the Edinburgh Festival. Even when separate from the Edinburgh Festival itself, the EFF stands as the largest festival in the world dedicated to the arts. Also known as the Fringe, the EFF started as a group of eight theatre companies that got together to feature performances at the first Edinburgh International Festival in 1947 and now features an average of 2,900 performing arts shows from about 70 countries worldwide held in nearly 300 venues for a span of around 30 days yearly. The EFF has since instituted a “no-censorship” policy to all its performances, thus providing audiences with spectacular features shown in full glory. The EFF features a fascinating array of shows ranging from renditions of classical and contemporary shows to new ones premiering at the event itself. As a free-for-all festival allowing all kinds of performers to showcase their theatrical talents, the EFF does not involve any juries and is best known for its free-flowing nature, hence its reputation worldwide as a fantastic and seemingly endless showcase of performing arts in one historical place. Nevertheless, performers at the EFF receive numerous awards from different sponsors based on various criteria such as The Scotsman (Fringe First Awards), The Herald (Herald Angels), and The Stage (Stage Awards for Acting Excellence) (The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, n.d.).
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is a celebration featuring military tattoo performances of the British Armed Forces and military bands from around the world. Visitors from around the world get to enjoy a cultural exhibition of different military bands performing in front of the Edinburgh Castle. The first official Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo took place in 1950 with just eight bands performing at the Edinburgh Castle throughout the month of August and 6,000 spectators on the first day – a figure that has since risen to 8,600 daily throughout August at present. The term “tattoo”, used by the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo since 1950, came from the Dutch term “doe den tap toe”, referring to the last call by bar owners for serving beer – in this case, to soldiers. “Tattoo” has since become a prominent military call signal, hence the interesting name of the event (The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, n.d.).
Hogmanay, or the Scottish New Year, is annually held from the night of December 31 of the previous year to January 1 of the next year. The term “Hogmanay” has unclear origins that may have come from French and Norse influences, although its first written usage dates back to the 1600s as a song on the Elgin Records, from the Scottish town of Elgin. Celebrations abound all of Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland during Hogmanay, primarily characterized by household gatherings, street fire dances and fireworks lighting up as the clock reaches 12:00 am at January 1. The song Auld Lang Syne, famous around the world as a traditional New Year’s Day song, originated from the Hogmanay and is sung during the event (The Official Gateway to Scotland, n.d.).
Economic Impact
According to the Edinburgh Festivals Impact Study 2012 issued by the Culture and Sport Committee (2013), the Edinburgh Festival has generated £261 million in revenue from a total of almost 2,000,000 attendees in 2010, which in turn supported an estimated 5,200 full-time jobs in Edinburgh alone. The consistently high attendance rates of the EFF largely contributes to the annual revenue generation, which involves ticket prices per show averaging at £20, with some employing free to “pay-what-you-can” schemes for admission. The study indicates that the economic impact of the Edinburgh Festival came from the ambitious and highly artistic performances demonstrated by all of its component festivals. Moreover, the study notes the high accessibility and fully diverse setup of the Edinburgh Festivals as a crucial component for increasing the sense of pride of Edinburgh locals towards their city, improving family ties, enhancing creativity especially among children and strengthening the general welfare of children – all of which present strong economic aspects (The City of Edinburgh Council – Culture and Sport Committee, 2012).
References
About the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. (n.d.). In The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from https://www.edfringe.com/about-us.
About the Tattoo. (n.d.). In The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/the-experience/about-the-tattoo.
Hogmanay top facts. (n.d.). In The Official Gateway to Scotland. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.scotland.org/features/hogmanay-top-facts/.
The City of Edinburgh Council – Culture and Sport Committee. (2012). Edinburgh Festivals impact study 2012. Scotland: The City of Edinburgh Council.
