The council has outlined plans for the next ten years in a new events strategy which will be approved by councillors next week.
Many events professionals have been consulted in the drafting of the plan which will align the events which take place in Edinburgh with the national framework ‘Scotland: The Perfect Stage’.
The last plan dates from 2006 and that covered the 2014 Commonwealth Games when the diving events took place at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, the Papal visit in 2010 and the Tour of Britain cycling series just last year.
This new plan will include events large and small and will prioritise the events in the ‘shoulder months’ between the Hogmanay celebrations and the summer months given over to the Edinburgh festivals.
Now one new event of national standing will be brought to the capital each year.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events Champion, said: “Edinburgh has built a world-wide reputation for hosting high profile events and festivals. We need to draw on our capital city status, our world-class venues and our envious and iconic cityscape to continue enticing excellent events to the city. A new, nationally aligned strategy will help us achieve this.
“All of our events, from the Council’s annual Winter Festival programme to unique sporting and cultural activities, help make Edinburgh a great place in which to live, work, study and visit. I hope our new approach, which has been developed with the support of professionals from right across the events industry, will guide our aspirations for the next decade.”
John Donnelly, Chief Executive Marketing Edinburgh, said: “Through our work with leading international organisations such as European City Marketing and BestCities Global Alliance, Marketing Edinburgh is in a unique position to contribute to the city’s Events Strategy and the ‘one city’ approach.
“The case for a collaborative strategy for Edinburgh’s future event success has never been clearer and we welcome this approach. Edinburgh enjoys a global reputation for its festivals and Hogmanay celebrations, but a huge opportunity remains to strengthen our cultural and sporting offering, particularly in the quieter shoulder months.
“The benefits of a dynamic and varied events programme reach far beyond the city limits. Edinburgh is the gateway to Scotland for the majority of its international visitors, the more compelling reasons we can give them to choose Edinburgh, the better for all.”
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “We are delighted that Edinburgh has introduced a new strategic vision for events in the city, which directly aligns with Scotland’s national event strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage.
“Scotland’s capital can boast some of the most high-profile and valuable event properties in the world, including Edinburgh’s Festivals, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the new strategy will allow these to flourish while also building upon the city’s year-round event offer.
“The EventScotland team looks forward to working with the City of Edinburgh Council, as well as other stakeholders within the capital’s events sector, to see the objectives of the new strategy realised over the next decade.”
At the centre of the strategy is the adoption of a ‘One Edinburgh’ approach to delivering and supporting events in the city. This will involve using events as a driver for tourism and regeneration and co-ordinating city dressing and use of public spaces. An Advisory Board made up of representatives from the city’s events organisers, venues, funding agencies and transport bodies will be established to handle and encourage city-wide support for events in the city.
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