Festivals Edinburgh, the umbrella body which leads strategic development for all festivals in the city, has appointed a new director to lead the organisation from autumn 2024 when the current director, Julia Amour, will step down.
Lori Anderson will take over the position bringing her experience after leading Culture Counts a Scottish network of arts, heritage and creative industries organisations in Scotland, Collective Gallery, Museums Galleries Scotland and Creative Dundee.
Simon Gage, Chair of Festivals Edinburgh said: “Lori joins us at a moment of significant change in our festivals landscape. We’ve bounced back from the covid pandemic but remain fragile, as does the wider culture eco-system. There are many challenges to be confronted in the coming years, but also many opportunities to be seized, and in Lori we believe we have found an exceptionally authoritative advocate to help shape our collective future.”
The new Director will take up position just as changes are underway in festivals’ strategies and also wider culture and tourism policies, including the planned introduction of a Visitor Levy by The City of Edinburgh Council – the first in the United Kingdom – now that the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill has become law. There is also a groundswell of support for reinvestment in culture, building on The Scottish Government’s promises to increase funding by £100 million over coming years.
Lori Anderson said: “The Edinburgh Festivals are amongst Scotland’s greatest cultural assets, recognised at home and abroad as bringing immense cultural, economic and social value to the country and its people. The fragility of our cultural landscape is all too familiar to me, but the agility of the Edinburgh Festivals in responding to change has always impressed me, and I look forward to taking up this crucial role at the heart of the festivals family.”
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