Why Scotland’s missing a trick as the Festival comes to town

But, something is increasingly apparent this year: while the event happens in Scotland, it feels like it is happening to Scotland rather than showcasing the nation’s work.

At Label Sessions we work with brands who want to understand what’s happening next in culture and this year we’ve spoken to artists from North America, Europe, and beyond. They’re all eager to experience Edinburgh in August, and take advantage of the opportunities that come with the city at this time of year.

At the same time, you can also often get a much more impressive gathering of investors and entrepreneurs in Edinburgh for the festivals than you will for a more traditional tech event.

Due to all that, governments around the world back their artists and companies to make maximum noise while they are here. Sometimes that’s a branded and official presence, as we’ve seen from countries such as Australia, Canada and Korea. Others it’s achieved through support from funders and peer networks in more subtle ways.

It makes perfect sense for any country that wants to grow its cultural influence or creative economy to go big during the Edinburgh festivals. Yet, Fringe performers we interview often report to us that they have reached the end of their run and have hardly seen any Scottish work.

So why is Scotland not leveraging our unfair advantage – being the home of it all – to launch new work, new companies and new ideas onto the global stage?

When we’ve raised this idea with other people in Edinburgh, they’ve often pointed to a familiar counter example: Trainspotting. Tourists flock to see productions of Trainspotting every year, and there are references to it in the film festival, art festival, and book festival this August.

Trainspotting, though, is now almost 30 years old. When the book was first published, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was itself almost 30 years old. This gets close to becoming a part of the heritage industry.

A lot of this is a problem of promotion rather than product. There is great new work from Scotland in the festivals – especially when you look to the Made in Scotland program in the Fringe. And the director of the Art Festival, Kim McAleese, spoke so compellingly in our interview with her, on the rootedness of her programme in and for the city.

However, it’s also no accident that Edinburgh showcases international talent better than our own. As the festivals have grown, they’ve been eager to serve a global community of artists and drive global renown. 90 per cent of submission viewers for the film festivals do not live in Scotland. The ticketing app for the Fringe used to be made in Glasgow, now it’s licensed in from Australia with barely a thought.

Perhaps that spirit of giving has been part of the reasons artists around the world still see August in Edinburgh as the place to go to showcase brave new work. We’ve created an incredible honeypot for creative people the world over.

But, this is a time when the creative and tech economy of Scotland needs a boost, and we have a ready-made showcase other countries would give anything for. Sometimes in innovation strategy we tell companies there are times its best to follow a trend rather than try to set a new one. If we really want to give our creative arts economy a boost in Scotland we may need to think about it more like Australians.

Nick Sherrard, managing director of Label Sessions