That was the Festival that was – Edinburgh’s Hogmanay – Funding for Community Projects – Roadworks in Potterrow – The Himalayan Centre gets its funding
The 2013 Edinburgh Festivals (or at least those that take place in the summer months) are now firmly over. We are of course now heading straight towards Hallowe’en and Christmas. In the meantime Councillor Steve Cardownie, the Festivals Champion has been looking back:-
“The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert brought the 67th Edinburgh International Festival to a spectacular close on Sunday night.
Once again, we find ourselves reflecting on Edinburgh’s biggest and best summer festival season yet. And that isn’t a throw-away comment; the numbers speak for themselves.
Over 2,200 artists from 36 nations, almost 800 of them from Scotland, performed in the International Festival with ticket sales up 17,000, or 11%, to 158,500. The Fringe, meanwhile, came to an end after 45,464 performances of 2,871 shows, making it the largest ever arts festival in the world. Just shy of two million tickets were issued for shows and events in 273 venues.
The Book Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary with a hike of almost 6% in ticket sales to around 225,000, while the Tattoo sold out for the fifteenth year in a row. And lest we forget the Mela – despite the windy weather affecting Sunday’s programme, Saturday was their most successful ever with 13,000 people attending.
This has all led to an inescapable feel-good factor around the Capital – helped in no small part by the sunshine. And, if the city centre streets felt busier, that’s because they were. At the peak of the festivals, average city centre footfall was up almost 20% on the same period last year.”
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Underbelly and Unique Events have organised the Paradiso Spiegeltent to form the heart of this year’s Christmas celebrations, situated in St Andrew Square from 23 November to 5 January. And there will be an international hit show: Limbo!
Initially created for the Adelaide Festival, LIMBO! comes directly to Edinburgh from a six month run at Underbelly’s award winning London Wonderground Festival at Southbank Centre where it is playing until the end of September to capacity audiences and to massive critical acclaim.
LIMBO! is an exotic, illogical world of mind-bending illusions, breathless dance and soaring live music from a coterie of highly skilled international performers. A truly unique experience for Christmas, suitable for all ages from 12+
Tickets for LIMBO! are on sale now from www.edinburghschristmas.com
The Paradiso Spiegeltent will also feature some of the finest family entertainment to be had this Christmas in Edinburgh, including: Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs from 23 November to 15 December and Red Riding Hood from 17 December to 5 January.
Tickets are also on sale to celebrate the first 21 years of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay with a spectacular three-day programme of free and ticketed events. ‘Scotland’s Year Starts Here’, with the new-look Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party, Concert in the Gardens and The Keilidh, where 80,000 people from over 60 countries will bring in the New Year and launch the Year of Homecoming Scotland 2014.
For the first time Edinburgh’s Hogmanay will offer the local audience with a limited ‘EH Postcode’ ticket for the Street Party. The EH Postcode Ticket allows EH postcode residents the opportunity to purchase tickets for a reduced price of £16 + bf, a saving of £4 per ticket.
Pete Irvine, Director of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, said:- “2014 is going to be a very big year for Scotland and it will start with the UK’s largest winter festival. Our plans for the launch of this special year will be announced later as will the artists for our five music stages in and around Princes Street together with the major headliners at the Concert in the Gardens. We will rival the summer music festivals. Demand for tickets for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is already high, and we’re happy to be able to offer an early-bird ticket specifically to EH postcodes for the first time.”
Full details of all the events can be found at www.edinburghshogmanay.com and the full line up of acts for the Street Party and Concert in the Gardens will be announced in the autumn.
Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland added: “Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is one of our signature events each year and the new collaboration with Underbelly looks set to make the festival bigger and better this year as Scotland prepares to welcome the world in 2014.”
Revellers can purchase tickets for all the Christmas events at www.edinburghschristmas.com or by calling into the Christmas Box Office at The Fringe Office, 180 High Street, Edinburgh and for all Hogmanay events at www.edinburghshogmanay.com, by calling Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Box Office on 0844 573 8455 or by calling into the Hogmanay Box Office at The Fringe Office, 180 High Street, Edinburgh.
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Do you want to improve your area? Do you have a project in mind that could enhance your local environment? The Edinburgh Evening News and The City of Edinburgh Council are looking for inspired residents and community groups to put forward their ideas for small projects to improve their local environment. They say:-“We can help with funding and resources to complete your goals!” There is a lot of information about the kind of projects they will fund under the Get it Sorted Together initiative as well as an application form on this web page here.
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The council are planning to carry out works on the pavements near Potterrow. More information on these which are due to start on 17 September in the letter below, and you will see that there will be a lane closure on the roads around here for two weeks making this an area to avoid even if you are in a car!
Potterow Chapel Street Letter PDF by Phyllis Stephen
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Resilient Scotland Ltd announces its first investment packages worth £120,000 to two social enterprises based in Edinburgh and Greenock, thanks to the unique combination of grant and loan package offered by Resilient’s Start & Grow.
One of these is the Himalayan Centre which we told you about earlier in the summer. Having acquired an Edinburgh Council swimming pool The Himalayan Centre, Edinburgh hopes to create a purpose built hall for cultural and social events, a meeting room and licensed café/restaurant. The investment from Start & Grow will help the centre develop a commercial kitchen and restaurant facilities.
Start & Grow Fund is the first community regeneration funding programme run by the Resilient Scotland’s JESSICA (Scotland) Trust. It offers a combination of grant and loan packages up to £60,000 to organisations working to bring economic, social and environmental benefits to the eligible communities through various types of enterprise activity. The communities must be from one of the 13 designated local authority areas1 that have been identified as most challenged by economic circumstance and most in need of additional regeneration.
Ella Simpson, Resilient Scotland Ltd, Chair said:- “ We launched Start and Grow last year to help community organisations looking for creative investment solutions. Our aim is to invest and help build the capacity of enterprising community led organisations that will have lasting impact in their areas. Our first investments do just this, by investing in local businesses, who can create employment opportunities and ultimately support their local economy.”
The innovative, social enterprise Stepwell based in Greenock can expand its current food outlet to provide a sit-in café offering healthy home made food and drinks. This will result in more employment opportunities for local people whilst encouraging people to live healthier lives.
Resilient Scotland comes from JESSICA (Scotland) Trust, a £15 million independent Trust Fund established by Foundation Scotland (formerly Scottish Community Foundation) with an endowment from the BIG Lottery Fund. It is designed to help stimulate growth in disadvantaged communities most affected by serious economic decline and market failure, helping them to become stronger and more sustainable through their own efforts.
Today’s fireworks photo by John Preece
Web – http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
