Edinburgh International Book Festival is getting too big for Charlotte Square

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 09:13

THE Edinburgh International Book Festival could be facing a shock move away from Charlotte Square for the first time in its history, it emerged today.

Senior council officials say that the annual gathering is on the brink of becoming too big for its historic city centre home.

The comments came after new figures showed a big increase in visitors to the festival this year.

Organisers of the festival, which has attracted stars including Sir Sean Connery, admit that there is no room for expansion but say they have no current plans to find a new location.

Jim Inch, director of corporate services at the city council, said: "The event has grown and it is proving more and more difficult to maintain in its current venue."

The Book Festival in August is the only time of the year that Charlotte Square is opened up to the public. It is otherwise used as a private garden for the residents and businesses around it.

Buildings around the square include Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister, and the headquarters of the National Trust for Scotland.

There have been calls for the gardens to be opened up to the public in the same way as St Andrew Square but property owners have the final say.

Attendance at ticketed events surged by 4.3 per cent this year to 120,790, while total attendance was up 6.8 per cent at 205,556.

A council report said that independent bookshops at the festival also enjoyed a "significant upturn" as the event overcame the economic gloom.

More than 800 authors from 45 different countries appeared this year, including Alistair MacLeod, Douglas Coupland and Henning Mankell.

The event has grown year after year and is now regarded as one of the foremost literary events in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the Book Festival said that moving away from Charlotte Square was not being considered at the moment but admitted that there was no scope for any further growth at the current site. She said:

"We always explore options but we love our site and it works well.

"Physically, we couldn't fit another tent in but we also wouldn't want to. We are as big as we can get but it is about quality not quantity and we think it works well at its current size."