Edinburgh Festival Fringe 'will benefit' from Creative Scotland review as 'hardcore' sex film cited by SNP

Acrobats from the Fringe show The Black Blues Brothers show off some of their tricks and athletic prowess on Leith's Victoria Swing Bridge. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire | PA

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is set to benefit from an overhaul of how arts funding is allocated by the Scottish Government.

Culture secretary Angus Robertson said he was "concerned" that Scotland’s biggest cultural event, which sold 2.6 million tickets last month, was treated differently to other arts festivals in the city, which have had long-term funding from Creative Scotland. He admitted the staging of the 77-year-old event was "unsustainable" under its existing level of support and suggested this would be addressed by a review of how Creative Scotland operates and its remit.

Posters advertise shows for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which had more than 3700 in its 2024 programme. Picture: Getty Images | Getty Images

Speaking on the BBC’s Front Row programme, Mr Robertson also accused Creative Scotland of acting prematurely by announcing the shutdown of its open fund for artists, which it blamed on “uncertainty” over the release of part of its budget for this financial year.

The move triggered an industry-wide rebellion and led to performers staging protests at the end of several Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe shows.

Angus Robertson is Scotland's culture secretary. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

In a letter to Holyrood's culture committee, Mr Robertson suggested the controversy over the funding of the "real sex" film project Rein had partly influenced the decision to review Creative Scotland’s role and responsibilities.

A war of words erupted between the Fringe Society and Creative Scotland earlier this year when it emerged that an application for long-term funding had been rejected at the first stage.

Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy. Picture: Scott Louden | Scott Louden

Fringe Society chief executive Shona McCarthy later branded the level of funding support for the event "a national embarrassment" and warned it was becoming "almost impossible" to deliver.

However, last month Mr Robertson promised that arts festivals would become more of a priority and would secure more funding, under plans to create a new "strategic partnership" that he said would allow them to "flourish and maximise their contribution to Scotland".

Maxim Laurin (left) and Guillaume Larouche (right) perform a duet on a spinning teeterboard for Quebec City-based circus company Machine de Cirque's 'Ghost Light' ahead of their appearance at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The review of Creative Scotland was ordered weeks before it was due to decide on 281 applications for long-term funding worth £87.5m, including from dozens of arts festivals. It would have a funding gap of £47.5m based on standstill funding from the Government.

Mr Robertson said: “I'm concerned that the Fringe is treated differently to other festivals in Edinburgh. That's a challenge for the Fringe Society. Given its importance as a world-class event, that is something which is not sustainable.

“I’m actually looking forward, rather than looking back, in terms of the review. The cultural landscape is going to be quite different with this level [£100m] of additional funding.

"I want to make sure we’re not creating a gap between what we do in terms of regularly-funded organisations and other funding streams Creative Scotland is in charge of, our national performing companies, museums and galleries, and then festivals, some of which have sat within Creative Scotland, and some, like the Fringe, which have not.

“I’m really keen to make sure that the entire spectrum of Scotland’s cultural life is properly supported. I want to make sure that, as we grow the funding, which can’t happen quickly enough, we also have to have the organisation in place, whether that is Creative Scotland, or whether that is strategic partnerships around festivals, for example, to make sure that we are working to support them as well as we can."

Asked if Creative Scotland had to close its open fund, Mr Robertson said: “No, they didn’t. That was a choice made by Creative Scotland, not by the Scottish Government.

"I was very disappointed. I was very confident that the funding would be in place for them to continue operating the open fund.”