Festivals urged to go globalby satellite

EDINBURGH'S festivals should screen "hot ticket" events live in cinemas worldwide to broaden their appeal, raise extra revenue and fight off the growing competition, a leading events expert has declared.

Satellite broadcasts of sold-out events could generate huge exposure for the Edinburgh International Festival, the Tattoo, and the city's book and film festivals, according to Dr Joe Goldblatt, head of Queen Margaret University's centre for the study of planned events.

Goldblatt, an adviser to Edinburgh's festivals, said he has told them to follow the lead of major players such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet in London's Covent Garden, who have clinched lucrative deals with cinema operators.

Screenings have been hugely successful in the UK, despite audiences being charged up to 25 a time.

Goldblatt, who will deliver a major lecture at QMU, Edinburgh, next month on broadening the appeal of the festivals, will warn that major changes need to be made by Scotland's leading events if they are to stay ahead of the global competition.

He will urge them to embrace new technology by launching global screenings of the most sought-after events, which he said could also be sold to pay-per-view TV channels.

Goldblatt said the festivals should also be doing more to ensure high-quality footage of their top events could be available for download to mobile phones.

He said new technology was one of a number of "major forces" set to affect the festivals, along with climate change and the collapse of the global economy.

He will say that Scotland's festivals have the opportunity to trigger a new "era of Enlightenment" if they can develop major new audiences and rear a cutting-edge generation of creative industry workers.

Edinburgh's festivals have been working on joint projects for several years and even launched their own TV channel last year to film highlights of major shows for broadcast online.

Although the festivals said the idea of live satellite broadcasts had been discussed, it is thought contractual issues with artists and the costs involved in such a venture mean its introduction was likely to be several years away.