Free Edinburgh jazz event set to fall silent after 19 years

Published on Wednesday 12 May 2010 23:04

BRITAIN'S biggest free jazz event faces being axed after 19 years entertaining crowds at the start of Edinburgh's summer festival season, The Scotsman can reveal.

• The free jazz and blues event in Princes Street Gardens is unlikely to go ahead after problems securing the venue

Organisers of the annual jazz and blues festival have admitted the free event in Princes Street Gardens is unlikely to go ahead this year due to problems securing access to its regular venue.

They blamed the city council for agreeing a deal to rent out the Ross Bandstand area to a major Fringe operator in August.

Assembly Theatre has told the council it will need to start work to construct its new tented venue on 20 July – well before the Jazz on a Summer's Day event was due to be held on 1 August.

Crowds of more than 10,000 have regularly flocked to the all-day bash, launched in 1991.

The open-air concert, which has featured a host of big-name acts, is usually held the day after a "Mardi Gras" event in the Grassmarket.

Now the festival may be forced to hold two days of events in the Grassmarket in a bid to ensure it has a high-profile presence in the city when its programme gets underway.

Meanwhile, Assembly will be the first promoter for several years to attempt to stage Fringe shows in the gardens and will be bringing in a Spiegeltent-style venue, which will be built in front of the existing run-down bandstand.

The council has been keen to see the area brought back into use for the Fringe and is thought to have struck a lucrative deal with Assembly to take on the site. But the move has dismayed the jazz festival and follows the shelving of several other free festival events in recent years, including the Fringe Sunday showcase and the festivals cavalcade on Princes Street.

Eric Milligan, a former lord provost and member of the jazz festival board, said: "There has been a perception over the years that the Edinburgh Festival has perhaps been for more privileged or advantaged people, and the city has been very good at putting on free events like this for absolutely everyone to come along, enjoy a day out and get into the spirit of the festivals.

"This is not only the biggest free jazz concert in Britain, it is also believed to be one of the biggest in Europe, and has been a very important event to kick-start the festivals season.

"The festival is looking at a number of alternatives, including running the Mardi Gras for an extra day, but it doesn't seem likely anything will be possible in the gardens because the new Fringe venue will be being built and has a capacity of just a few hundred."

Brian Fallon, chairman of the festival, said: "We've been advised by the council the seating area in front of the bandstand will be needed for the new Fringe venue.

"We understand the need for the council to raise finance in this way, but we know a lot of people who normally go to the jazz festival concert will be very disappointed.

"We only got a few weeks' notice that there would be an issue with Princes Street Gardens."

William Burdett-Coutts, artistic director at Assembly, said: "We have to put up a huge amount of infrastructure for the venue, which is why work has to start by 20 July.

"We were asked by the council to work with the jazz festival. We're still working on some kind of solution."

Fiona Alexander, a director at Assembly Direct, the promoters of the jazz festival, said it was likely to be a week before the fate of the Jazz on a Summer's Day event was decided. Relocation was being considered.

A council spokeswoman said: "There have already been discussions between the council, the jazz festival and Assembly Theatre to see how best the festival can use the new venue. Alternative outdoor sites are also being looked at for the highly popular Jazz on a Summer's Day event."

The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival uses venues across the city, including the Usher Hall, Queen's Hall, Voodoo Rooms, The Hub, The Lot and the Spiegeltent.