By The Telegraph (World News) | Created at 2024-11-14 14:55:13 | Updated at 2024-11-23 05:40:26
1 week ago
The violinist urges for a ‘significant uplift’ in funds for next month’s Scottish Budget after having to ‘squeeze’ 2025 programme
Simon Johnson
Scottish Political Editor
14 November 2024 2:46pm GMT
Nicola Benedetti has disclosed that “heartbreaking” cuts are being made to next year’s Edinburgh International Festival after SNP ministers left its funding in limbo.
Ms Benedetti, the festival’s director, said all aspects of its 2025 programme have had to be “squeezed” due to uncertainty over its public funding.
The violinist told The Scotsman that the festival has been forced to drop its large-scale opening event, which has been a highlight over the last decade, because it can no longer afford it.
The number of concerts in the Usher Hall, which has been a cornerstone of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) since its launch in 1947, is also expected to be significantly scaled back.
Ms Benedetti said it was “heartbreaking for us to be presenting a reduced festival” and urged SNP ministers to provide a “significant uplift” in funding in next month’s Scottish Budget.
Her warning came as the festival announced that its theme next year would be “The Truth We Seek”, inviting audiences to explore truth in all its forms.
Performances include Mary, Queen of Scots, a world premiere from the Scottish Ballet, an Australian reimagining of the opera Orpheus and Eurydice featuring acrobatics, and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 in their first-ever European tour.
But Francesca Hegyi, the EIF chief executive, warned in August that the EIF was having to “plan for the worst” for 2025 and beyond due to a lack of clarity over its public funding.
The festival has received about £2.5 million from the Scottish Government in recent years and had expected to get a decision from the quango Creative Scotland last month on its funding for the next three years.
But it is now not expected to get a decision until the end of January, following the Scottish Budget on Dec 4, less than two months before its programme launch.
Asked how the festival was able to plan ahead, Ms Benedetti said: “We have had to programme a reduced festival for 2025, which has been difficult.
“We will not be presenting our full programme until March, so I can’t be too specific, but there has been a squeezing of the festival on all fronts.
“We are not going to have an opening event, for example. The number of Usher Hall performances we are presenting will be reduced.”
Ms Benedetti said she understood the financial pressures the Scottish Government is facing, including the “pressures around the cost of living and jobs”, but said “we are striving to get our festival to where it needs to be.”
“We have an ambition and a plan for growth for our festival. Given the weight that we punch at internationally, in terms of our quality and level, our festival should be operating to a far higher budget,” she said.
“It is heartbreaking for us to be presenting a reduced festival. But we live in Scotland, we live in the UK. We have got to be cognisant of where we are. We have to protect the festival for the long-term, which is what we’re focused on doing.”
Ms Benedetti said the festival had been forced to ensure a 40 per cent cut in its public funding over the past decade, when inflation was taken into account.
An EIF spokesman said: “Like hundreds of other organisations across Scotland, we face uncertainty as we await the results of Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding decisions, which were delayed to align with the Scottish Government’s budgetary process.”
He added: “The funding is vital to maintain Edinburgh’s position as a cultural capital and connect Scotland to people and cultures from around the world, supporting our national cultural eco-system as well as the economy.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The cultural sector is integral to Scotland’s identity as a country and that’s why we remain committed to investing at least £100 million more annually in the sector by 2028/29, despite the UK budget providing no additional funding for culture.
“Further details will be set out in the Scottish Budget on Dec 4 but it remains our aim to provide a further increase for the arts and culture in 2025-26, building on the £15.8 million increase in this year’s budget, which will inform Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding awards in January.”
