Erotica part of festival menu again

It will be the second time Festival Erotique, planned for the city’s Corn Exchange, has been held in the Capital.

Last year’s adult-only event was the first of its kind in Scotland and was hailed as a great success. Thousands of visitors from across the country attended the three-day industry trade fair.

Now the event looks like becoming a regular feature of the festival calendar after gaining a licence from the city council.

Originally the brainchild of city sex shop owner Vincent Delicato, it has now been taken over by the Demarco family, who own and run the Corn Exchange.

A spokesman for the Corn Exchange said today they were delighted to get the go-ahead and that last year’s event exceeded their expectations. He said: "It is definitely good news for us and we plan to build on the success of last year’s event." They said they had taken over the running of the festival in order to gain more control of it.

Bosses there now plan to stage the extravaganza from September 3-5. Brochures and literature advertising the festival described it as aimed at "liberated and adventurous" people.

But the festival faced calls for it to be banned by anti-pornography campaigners who described it as "a market for hardcore pornography".

Catherine Harper from Scottish Women Against Pornography, who objected to the proposal, said she was disappointed it had been given the go-ahead.

She said: "We went to visit the Erotica festival last year and it is a market for hardcore pornography. We were really very concerned about certain material on sale and referred to one video in our presentation. We think the council has a duty to protect women and children and this kind of material puts them at risk."

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council said: "An application by Festival Erotique has been granted by the regulatory committee but is subject to standard conditions."

Festival organisers must still apply for a new licence each time they wish to hold the event.

Mr Delicato got the original idea for staging the event after being inspired by the success of the Erotica Festival in London which featured hundreds of exhibitors including body artists, piercing experts, fetish fashion houses, hedonistic holiday firms and other adult businesses.

Council officials have given the event a licence subject to conditions over body piercing and tattooing. Police chiefs will also have a say on licensing issues.

Some of the porn industry’s most famous stars jetted in for last year’s event, which ran from August 29-31. Organisers even held a "sex idol" contest in which contestants had three minutes to impress a panel of judges and the audience with a raunchy routine.

Fetish fashion shows which featured cross-dressing, transvestites, lingerie, kinky uniforms and PVC outfits were staged. Erotic art shows, dancers, live adult entertainment and a dominatrix workshop from Mistress Ava were also laid on for visitors.